The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch

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1

TRANSLATIONS OF CHRISTIAN LITERATURE

SERIES I
GREEK TEXTS

THE EPISTLES ^

OF

ST. IGNATIUS,

BISHOP OF ANTIOCII

First published 1900.
Re-is sue y 19 19.

TRSN5lAnO¥^ OF CHRI^HM
LITERATURE . $EP1ES I

GREEK TEXTS

Xqwai'

,'5>cU.y^"t

THE EPI$TLES OF

ST IGNATIUS
BI$HOP0FANTIOCH

3l/ J H SRAWLEYDD

SOCIETY FOK PROMOTING
CHRJSTIAN KNOWLEDGE. London
The Macmillan Companii .lfav\ork
1919

X'd^ES"

PREFACE

The present translation of the epistles of St. Ignatius
is intended to set before English readers, in an
accessible form, the writings of one of the most
important characters in the Church history of the period
succeeding the age of the Apostles. In these epistles
we have the key to the right understanding of the
character of the Church at the beginning of the second
century. The two facts to which they bear witness are,
on the one hand, the significance of the Incarnation
for Christians of that generation as the central truth of
Christianity, and, on the other, the importance attached
to the visible unity of the Church as expressed in the
organization of the Christian societies under bishops,
presbyters, and deacons. The striking personality of the
writer of the epistles, and the controversy which has
gathered round them, combine to make them one of
the most interesting products of early Christian times.

Bishop Lightfoot's great work {Ignatius and Polycarp^
1885) has exhaustively treated of most of the critical
questions which are connected with the text and the
exposition of the epistles. The present writer has made
that work his chief guide, and has rarely ventured, in
the interpretation of passages, to depart from the views
expressed in it. On the nature of the heresies attacked
in the epistles, however, he has adopted in the main the
conclusions of Dr. Hort in his Judaisiic Christiafiity.
The articles on Ignatius by Dr. Harnack in the Expositor
for 1885 and 1886, as well as the same writer's treatment
of the epistles in his Chronologic der Altchristlichen
IJtteratur, have also been consulted. The notes of
2^hn on the epistles have supplied much useful matter,

vi PREFACE

while for the external history of the period Professor
Ramsay's Church in the Roman Empire has been found
invaluable. In treating of the theology of Ignatius the
writer has found much that is suggestive in the able
monograph of Von der Goltz {Texte und Untersuch-
ungen, Bd. xii.), although he has not always been able
to subscribe to the author's conclusions.

The writer is indebted to Dr. Swete, Regius Professor
of Divinity at Cambridge, for much kind advice un-
grudgingly given; to the committee of the S.P.C.K. for
the interest they have shown in the work, and for some
useful criticisms ; to the Rev. W. L. E. Parsons, of
Selwyn College, who has read through the translation,
and to others.

NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION

A few slight changes and additions have been made
both in the introduction and in the notes ; but in its
main features the present edition is a reprint of the
former.

NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION

The call for a fresh edition of this little book, which
is now set Up in a new form, has rendered necessary a
more thorough revision of the introduction and notes
than was possible in preparing it for the second edition.
In the eighteen years which have elapsed since its first
appearance new light has been thrown on many of the
questions dealt with. Several of the notes have been
re-written and also certain sections of the introduction.
A new Additional Note, in place of the original Add.
Note 2, has been inserted, in which the question of the
Christian Ministry has been more fully dealt with. On
the other hand, a few curtailments have been made
elsewhere. In other respects the present edition is a
reprint of the earlier edition.

J. H. S.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION :

1. THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY UPON THE lONA-

TIAN EPISTLES 9

2. GENUINENESS AND DATE 15

3. ST. IGNATIUS THE MARTYR 20

4. ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER .... 24

I. THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS . . 38

II. THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS . . 53

HI. THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS . . 62

IV. THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS ... 70

V. THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 81

V[. THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN/EANS . 90

VII. THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP . . .102

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. THE HERESIES IN THE CHURCHES OF ASIA . IIO

2. THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN

MINISTRY 113

3. THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. IGNATIUS I20

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES . . .126

GENERAL INDEX 129

VII

ST. IGNATIUS

INTRODUCTION.

I. THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY UPON
THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.

Around the letters bearing the name of St. Ignatius
there has been waged a literary controversy that has
extended from the time of the revival of learning to the
nineteenth century. The subject is of special interest
to Englishmen, as the discussion of the genuineness of
these letters found a place in the religious controversies
of England in the seventeenth century, and the decision
of the question has on three occasions been associated
with the names of English scholars, /. e. Archbishop
Ussher and Bishop Pearson in the seventeenth century,
and Bishop Lightfoot in the nineteenth century. During
the Middle Ages there were current in Europe seventeen
letters connected with the name of St. Ignatius. Four
of these embrace the spurious correspondence with St.
John and the Virgin. They include —

(i) Two letters from Ignatius to St. John.

(ii) A letter from Ignatius to the Virgin.

(iii) A letter from the Virgin to Ignatius.

The letters only exist in Latin, and were most prob-
ably composed in that language. An attempt has been
made to claim the authority of St. Bernard in support of
their genuineness, because in one of his sermons he says
that Ignatius * saluteth a certain Mary in several epistles,
which he wrote to her, as Christ-bearer.' But the word

lo INTRODUCTION

quandavi} *a certain (one)/ shows that he is speaking
of some less famous person than the Virgin, the reference
being, doubtless, to Mary of Cassobola, to whom one
of the letters of the Long Form is addressed. As the
object of the forger was undoubtedly to do honour to
the Virgin, Lightfoot is inclined to connect the letters
with the outburst of Mariolatry which took place in the
eleventh and following centuries. The forgery was
speedily disposed of as soon as the revival of the study
of antiquity began.

The remaining thirteen epistles, known as the Longer
Form, include a longer version of the seven letters of the
present collection, together with six additional letters, /. e.
Mary of Cassobola to Ignatius, Ignatius to Mary of
Cassobola, to the Tarsians, to the Philippians, to the
Antiochenes, and to Hero. This Longer Form is con-
tained in several Greek MSS. and also in a Latin version
of which the MSS. are numerous. The six additional
letters are also found attached to the seven letters of
the present collection not only in the Greek MSS., but
also in the Latin, Syriac, Armenian and Coptic transla-
tions. The Latin version was printed in 1498, and was
followed in 1557 by the publication of the Greek text.
Neither of these editions contained the letter of Mary
of Cassobola to Ignatius, which appeared, however, in
subsequent editions.

It was not long before the suspicions of students were
aroused. They could not fail to be struck by the wide
divergence of the text of Ignatius in the current editions
from the quotations of early Christian writers, such as
Eusebius (c. a.d. 310 — 325) and Theodoret (a.d 446).
It was noticed further that Eusebius only makes mention
of seven letters, and that no others but these are referred
to by Christian writers for some considerable period after
the time of Eusebius. Internal evidence confirmed these
suspicions by pointing out obvious anachronisms and
mistakes in the letters. At the same time the prejudices

^ Tlie omission of this word in some MSS. assisted the miscon-
ception of the passage. But there is no doubt that it forms a part
of t lie true text.

THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY • 1 1

of Protestant writers, and especially of those who favoured
Presbyterian views, were excited against the letters, be-
cause their presentation of Church order conflicted with
their own views. On the one hand it was recognized by
the Jesuit Petavius, that the epistles were interpolated,
and on the other hand many Protestant writers were
prepared to believe that they included some genuine
letters of Ignatius. Vedelius, a professor at Geneva,
published an edition of the letters in 1623, in which he
attempted to separate the genuine from the spurious
letters. The seven letters mentioned by Eusebius were
placed in one class, and the remaining five, which he
regarded as spurious, were formed into a second class.
He also maintained that the seven letters contained
interpolations, and in proof of this he showed that the
interpolator had made use of extracts from the Apostolical
Constitutions.

The genuineness of the Long Form was commonly
accepted by English writers of eminence before Ussher's
time, and we find the letters in that form quoted by
Hooker and Bishop Andrewes. The question, however,
was prominently brought forward by the controversies of
the day. • Episcopacy was being vehemently attacked by
the Puritans. This attack reached its climax in the
famous Smectymnuus controversy (so called from the
initials of the names of the five Presbyterian divines), in
which Bishop Hall defended, and the Presbyterians
attacked, the government of the Church by bishops. In
this controversy Ussher w s induced to take a part. In
his pamphlet The Original of Bishops and Metropolitans^
he made use of the evidence of the Ignatian epistles,
carefully confining, however, his quotations to the
passages in which the interpolated version agrees with
the genuine text. Ussher's pamphlet was replied to by
the poet Milton in his treatise Of Prelatical Episcopacy^
published in 1641. He attacks the genuineness of the
Ignatian epistles and says, ' To what end then should
they cite him as authentic for episcopacy, when they
cannot know what is authentic of him ? ' But Ussher
had already engaged in the task of rescuing the genuine

12 . INTRODUCTION

epistles from the interpolated and spurious additions of
the current text. He had examined the quotations of
Ignatius found in the writings of Robert Grosseteste,
Bishop of Lincoln (c. a.d. 1250), and two other English
writers, John Tyssington and William Wodeford, who
wrote in the fourteenth century and were members of
the Franciscan house at Oxford, to which Grosseteste left
his books. These quotations, he found, differed from
the common text of Ignatius and agreed with the quota-
tions found in Eusebius and Theodoret. This led him
to conclude that there might exist somewhere in England
manuscripts containing this purer text of the epistles
The result was the discovery of two Latin MSS. of the
epistles. The first of these was found in the library of
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. This MS., of
which Ussher procured a transcript, was written by
Walter Crome, D.D., a former Fellow, being completed
in the year 144 1, as we learn from a note in Crome's
own handwriting, while another note in the same hand
on a fly-leaf states that the MS. was presented to the
College in a.d. T444 *on the feast of St. Hugh.'

The second MS. came from the library of Richard
Montague or Montacute, Bishop of Norwich It has,
however, disappeared since Ussher's time, although we
possess a collation of its readings contained between the
lines or in the margin of Ussher's transcript of the Caius
MS. This transcript is now in the library of Dublin
University.

Of these two MSS. the second appears to be the
earlier and the more accurate. In fact Lightfoot thinks
that it closely represents the version as it came from the
translator. Ussher found that the quotations of Ignatius
in the works of Grosseteste were taken from the Latin
version preserved in these two MSS., and further study
led him to believe that Grosseteste was himself the trans-
lator. Such a view is consistent with the interest shown
by the great Bishop of Lincoln in Greek learning and in
the translation of Greek authors. Moreover we know
that among the books of which Grosseteste caused a
translation to be made were the writings of Dionysius

THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY 13*

the Areopagite. These appear frequently bound up in
the same MS. as the Ignatian epistles. In recent times
there has been more direct confirmation of Ussher's
view. This is supplied by a note in a fourteenth-century
MS. in the library at Tour?, attributing the Latin trans-
lation to Grosseteste.

Ussher published his shorter Latin text in 1644. But
as yet the Greek text corresponding to this shorter Latin
version had not appeared. This link was supplied two
years later by the publication at Amsterdam by Isaac
Voss of the Greek text of six out of the seven letters, the
epistle to the Romans being missing. This Greek text
was based upon an eleventh-century MS. in the Medicean
library at Florence. Finally the Greek text of the missing
epistle to the Romans was published by Ruinart in 1689
from a MS. of the tenth century, now in the National
Library at Paris. The MS. contains the Greek Acts of
the martyrdom of Ignatius, and the epistle to the Romans
is incorporated in them. Ussher's labours thus enabled
students to recognize the genuine epistles of Ignatius,
and to separate from these the interpolated portions, as
well as the spurious epistles, found in the Longer Form.

But the publication by Voss of the (}reek text of the
seven epistles led to a new controversy set on foot by
the French Puritans, who attacked the epistles because
of the support which they lent to episcopacy. The most
formidable opponent was Daill^, whose work appeared
in 1666. This new attack was concentrated upon the
seven letters as published by Voss. The attack was
met, and the genuineness of the letters vindicated by
Bishop Pearson, who wrote his Vi?idicue Ignatiamc in
1672.

The next important date in the Ignatian controversy
was the year 1845, when Canon Cureton published a
Syriac version of the epistles to St. Polycarp, the
Ephesians, and the Romans. The three epistles con-
tained in this version appear in a much shorter form than
is found in the Greek text and Latin version. A frag-
ment of the epistle to the Trallians is incorporated in
the epistle to the Romans, but none of the other epistles

14 INTRODUCTION

appear in the collection. The text of Curcton's edition
was based upon two MSS. in the British Museum. The
former of these two MSS. dates from the sixth century.
It was purchased by Archdeacon Tattam from the
convent of St. Mary Deipara in the Nitrian desert in
1839. The second MS. dates from the seventh or
eighth century, and was brought from Egypt by Arch-
deacon Tattam in 1842. Cureton maintained that these
three epistles alone represented the genuine Ignatius,
that the Vossian collection contained these three in an
interpolated form, and that the remaining four letters of
the Vossian collection were forgeries. This rekindled
the controversy. Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, afterwards
Bishop of Lincoln, declared the newly-discovered version
to be an epitome of the genuine letters made by an
Eutychian heretic. This led Cureton to a fuller treat-
ment of the (juestion. He had meanwhile discovered an
additional MS. of the three epistles, brought, like the
first-named, from the convent of St. Mary Deipara, and
dating from at least the ninth century. He now published
his great work Corpus Ignatianum (London, 1849),
which contains a full treatment of the whole question.
Cureton's view was supported by Bunsen and several
eminent scholars. But it has failed to hold its ground.
Apart from the fact that the seven letters of the Vossian
collection were plainly known to Eusebius and Theodoret,
they exhibit a perfect unity of authorship and st)le
throughout. Cureton's theory requires us to suppose
that the interpolator was able to reproduce in his additions
to the letters the most subtle characteristics of language
and grammar. A similar difficulty occurs when we
examine the relation of Cureton's Syriac version to the
Syriac version of the seven letters. The one is plainly
derived from the other, and it is far more probable that
the Curetonian Syriac version is an abridged form of the
Syriac version of the seven letters, than that the latter
is an expansion of the former.

I'he works of Zahn {Ignatius von Antioc/iien, 1873)
and of Bishop Lightfoot {Apostolic Fai/iers, Part II.,
Ignatius and Polycarp, 1885) have convincingly demon-

THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY 15

strated the genuineness of the seven letters in the form
edited by Voss, as against the claims of the Curetonian
letters, and this conclusion has been generally accepted
by modern scholars.

The author of the Long Form probably wrote in
Syria in the latter half of the fourth century. He has
been identified by Harnack and Funk with the compiler
of the Apostolic Constitutions. His doctrinal position
is not altogether clear. Funk regards him as an Apolli-
narian, Lightfoot as slightly leaning to Arianism. His
object appears to have been to present, in the name of
a primitive father, a conciliatory statement of doctrine
to which men of all parties might assent (Lightfoot).

The Curetonian Syriac version is probably due to the
careless abridgment of the letters by some scribe, and
represents * neither epitome nor extract, but something
between the two.' ^ -Lightfoot is inclined to assign it to
the sixth century.

2. GENUINENESS AND DATE.

* There are no epistles in early Christian literature
whose existence receives such early and excellent attest-
ation as does that of the Ignatian epistles from the epistle
of Polycarp ' (Harnack, Chrono/ogie, p. 400). The epistle
of Polycarp to the Philippians was written some few
weeks after the letters of Ignatius, and before the news
of the martyrdom of Ignatius had reached Smyrna. It
contains two references to Ignatius (cc. 9, 13). In the
latter passage the writer says : * The letters of Ignatius
sent to us by him, and all the rest which we had by us,
we have sent to you, as you enjoined. They are attached
to this letter.' This description corresponds with our
present collection. Two letters were addressed to
Smyrna, one to the Church, the other to Polycarp.
Four others were written from Smyrna. The bearer of
the letter to the Philadelphians, which was written from
Troas, would probably pass through Smyrna. Thus it
would be possible for copies of all the letters to be in

^ Lightfoot, I. p. 325.

1 6 INTRODUCTION

Polycarp's possession, and the interchange of letters,
which was already common in the churches in St. Paul's
day (Col. iv. i6), would render the request of the
Philippians and Polycarp's compliance natural. See
further, Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 336, 423 f.

St. Irenaeus (c. 180 a.d.) quotes from Rom. 4. See
V. 28. 4 : * As one of our own people said, when con-
demned to the wild beasts on account of his testimony
towards God, " I am God's grain, and I am ground by
the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure
bread." '

Lightfoot and Harnack both refer to pissages in
Clement of Alexandria (c. 190 — 210), which they think
point to an acquaintance with these epistles.

Origen, before the middle of the third century, shows
clearly a knowledge of these epistles and their author.
Thus in de Orat. 20, he appropriates the language
of Rom. 3 : " Nothing that is visible is good." This,
however, may have been a proverbial expression. But
in two passages he claims to be quoting the very words
of Ignatius —

(i) In the Prologue to the Commentary on the Song of
Songs (extant in the version of Rufinus) he says : * I
remember that some one of the saints, Ignatius by name,
said of Christ, " My love is crucified," nor do I think
him deserving of censure for this.' See Rom. 7.

(ii) In Horn, vi. in Lucam^ he quotes from Eph. 19,
introducing the quotation by a reference to the letters
and their author. His words are : * Well is it written
in one of the letters of a certain martyr, Ignatius I mean,
who was second bishop of Antioch after the blessed
Peter, and who in the persecution fought with wild beasts
at Rome.' Then follow the words, * Hidden from the
prince of this world was the virginity of Mary ' (Eph. 19) .
Origen thus clearly knew that —

(i) Ignatius was second bibhop of Antioch.

(ii) He suffered martyrdom at Rome.

(iii) He wrote some epistles which were extant in
Origen's time.

Eusebius of Cpes^irea (c. 310 — 325) in his ChronicU

GENUINENESS AND DATE 17

states that Ignatius was second bishop of Antioch, and
was martyred in the reign of Trajan. In his Ecclesias-
tical History (iii. 22, 36) he shows an exact and detailed
knowledge of Ignatius, his journey, his letters, the
churches to which he wrote, and the tradition of his
martyrdom at Rome. He also quotes from the epistles
to the Romans and Smyrnaeans, and elsewhere {Quaest.
ad Stephan. i.) from Ephesians.

From the time of Eusebius there is full and varied
evidence of the existence of the letters. The Syriac
Version was in existence at the close of the fourth
century, and an Armenian Version, translated from the
Syriac, in the fifth century or rather later.

Internally the letters bear clear evidence of the early
date at which they were written.

1 . The heresies attacked show plainly that the author
had not in view the great Gnostic sects connected with
Marcion, Basilides, or Valentinus. He shows no sign
of attacking their distinctive systems, but on the contrary
uses in certain places language which would have been
unguarded and liable to be misunderstood if used by a
later writer. See esp. Magn. 8 (note). In that passage,
before the correct reading was pointed out, it was urged
that Ignatius was attacking the Valentinian teaching upon
Styi? or 'Silence.' The true reading disposes of that
view, but uses language which no orthodox writer would
have ventured upon, if living at a time when the Valen-
tinian heresy was rife. On the early nature of the
heresies attacked, see Add. Note i. These facts point
to a date earlier than a.d. 140.

2. In several passages Ignatius appears to be repeat-
ing stereotyped expressions drawn from the Church
tradition of his time. Whether they are derived from
simple liturgical forms or Church teaching it is difficult
to say. Harnack has drawn attention to them in an
article in the Expositor iox December 1885. Many of
these creed-like passages exhibit in their form great
antiquity. Thus the words, * of the race (or seed) of
David '(Eph. 18, 20, Trail. '9, Rom. 7, Smyrn. 1), the
mention (Smyrn. i) of * Herod the tetrarch ' side by side

B

1 8 INTRODUCTION

with Pontius Pilate (cf. Acts iv. 27, also Justin, Dial,
103, but absent from later writers), the inclusion of the
baptism of Jesus by John (Eph. 18, Smyrn. i), when
compared with the oldest form of the Apostles' Creed,
from which these clauses are absent, point to a period
quite early in the second century.

3. The relation of these epistles to the books of the
New Testament is a further indication of their early
date. The manner in which the Gospel facts and say-
ings are quoted points to an early period at which the
written Gospels had not attained the unique pre-eminence
held by them later on in the second century. There is
no reference in the epistles to written Gospels, and in
one case the author quotes from an extra-canonical
source. See Smyrn. 3. This would show that oral
tradition was still appealed to.

4. Lightfoot sees a further indication of early date in
the passage Smyrn. 8, from which he concludes that the
Eucharist still formed part of the Agape, whereas in
Justin's time {Ap. i. 65, 67) the two were separate. But
this interpretation of Smyrn. 8 is open to criticism (see
note on passage), and the argument cannot be pressed.

The objections to the genuineness of these epistles
are mainly concerned with their presentation of Church
government and their witness to episcopacy. But the
organization, as here presented, while it exhibits mon-
archical episcopacy as fully established, and regards
the bishop as the source of all ministerial authority,^
also shows indications of its early date.

I. The picture presented of the bishop points to an
early period when the area over which he exercised his
rule was the congregation rather than the diocese, and
when he was * the pastor of a flock, like a vicar of a
modern town, in intimate relations with all his people.' ^
Hence too we find that the body of presbyters are in
immediate and regular contact with him and assist him
as a * council ' ^ in the work of administration.

^ Smyrn. 8.

* Gore, Church and Ministry^ p. 104.

8 Magn. 6, Trail. 3, Philad. 8.

GENUINENESS AND DATE 19

2. A study of the types of authority to which Ignatius
likens the authority of the bishop and the presbyters
also affords an indication of early date. The fact that
he regards the bishop as the representative of the Lord,
while the presbyters represent the Apostles, indicates
that he is writing at a time when the memory of the
Lord's earthly life was fresh in the minds of men. In
the bishop's office he sees a type of authority like that
which was in the world when Christ went about in His
ministry attended by the Apostles.

3. Had these epistles been forged in the latter half
of the second century, as Renan supposed, we should
have expected them to reflect the conception of the
ministry which is prominent in Christian writings of that
period. Now in the writers of the latter half of the
second century we find the bishops continually appealed
to as the depositaries of Apostolic tradition. The
bishops have received from the Apostles *the gift of
truth.' This conception is found in the Clementine
writings, in Hegesippus and in Irenaeus. But it is not
the conception upon which the Ignatian epistles dwell.
Yet if these letters had been written in the latter half
of the second century it i? unlikely that his language
would have shown so little trace of the ideas current
at that time.

The other objections urged on the ground of supposed
anachronisms, such as the word * leopard' (Rom. 5) and
the phrase * Catholic Church ' (Smyrn. 8), are dealt with
in the notes.

Each of the letters exhibits the same clearly marked
individuality, and is connected by close and subtle links
with the others. The Epistle to the Romans, however,
stands apart from the others. It is of a purely personal
character and deals with his coming martyrdom. Hence
it contains no allusion to the subjects which occupy so
large an amount of attention in other epistles, viz
Church order and heresy. Its silence on these points
is of value in refuting the idea that the letters are a late
forgery having as their object the promotion of Episco-
pacy. On that assumption it is difficult to see why the

2(> INTRODUCTION

letter should have been included in a collection having
such an object. To escape this difficulty Renan ad-
mitted the genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans.
Hut in its style the epistle shows clear traces of the
same authorship as the others, and it is impossible to
separate them.

The epistles present a striking and original personality,
surpassing in interest that of any other of the so-called
Apostolic Fathers. 'I'he creation of such a character
would have been a literary feat quite beyond the reach
of a forger in the second or any following century.

The year of the martyrdom of Ignatius can only be
fixed within rough limits. Eusebius, as we have seen,
states that Ignatius was martyred in the time of Trajan
Origen's statement that he was second bishop of Antioch
and fought with wild beasts at Rome * during the per-
secution,' probably shows that he was acquainted with
the same tradition and refers to the persecution under
Trajan, for, as Harnack has shown {Chronologic^ p. 404),
the date of the second bishop of Antioch cannot well
be much later than that of the second bishop of
Jerusalem, Simeon, who suffered martyrdom in the
reign of Trajan (a.d. 98 — 117).

Harnack finds another indication of the date in the
relations of Ignatius to Polycarp. In the epistle ad-
dressed to the latter, Ignatius plainly shows that he is
writing to one who is a comparatively young man. At
the time of his death Polycarp's age was eighty-six
{Mart. Polyc, 9). This was in a.d. 155-6, and Polycarp
would be between forty and fifty between a.d. iio — 120.

Hence the date of the letters and the martyrdom may
be fixed between a.d. iio — 117.

3. ST. IGNATIUS THE MARTYR.

Of the author of these epistles we possess little reliable
information beyond what may be gathered from the
epistles themselves. The Italian name Ignatius com-
bined with the Greek title Theophorus may indicate, as

Sl\ IGNATIUS THE MARTYR 21

Professor Ramsay ^ suggests, that * he belonged to a
Syrian family, strongly affected by Western civilization,
which had discarded native names/ It is clear from
the nature of his punishment that he cannot have been
a Roman citizen, in which case he would have been
sent, like St. Paul, to Rome for trial, and, if condemned,
would have been beheaded. I rom the scattered hints
which the letters give, e.g. Rom. 9, *born out of due
time,' and the expression, * last (of all),' found in E])h.
21, Trail. 13, Smyrn. 11, we may conclude that his
conversion was late in life. From Origen and Eusebius
(see preceding section) we have learnt that he was
second bishop of Antioch, being preceded by Euodius,
and that he suffered martyrdom in the time of Trajan.
The Acts recording his martyrdom exist in two forms,
the Antiochene and Roman Acts, but both are cjuite
late and untrustworthy. With their rejection we are
left without any knowledge of the circumstances of his
trial and condemnation, and the oft-quoted interview
with Trajan becomes destitute of authority. From the
epistles themselves we infer that Ignatius, like other
martyrs before him (Eph. 12), who had been condemned
to the beasts by the provincial governors, was being
sent to Rome to suffer in the arena of the Coliseum.
This great amphitheatre, built by the Flavian emperors,
was the scene of these brutal sports on a gigantic scale,
and it is a well-attested fact that criminals from the
provinces were used for this purpose.^ From Polyc.
F/iil. I, 9 we gather that other prisoners accompanied
Ignatius, at least during a portion of his journey. His
escort consisted of a maniple of soldiers, whom on
account of their harsh treatment he compares to *ten
leopards ' (Rom. 5). His letters reveal the true martyr-
spirit. He declares that he is a willing victim.^ His
death will speak more clearly to the world than ever
his words have done in life. * If you be silent and
leave me alone,' he writes to the Romans, * I shall

* Ch. in JR. Empire^ p. 440, note.

• See Ramsay, Ch, in A\ Empire^ p. 317
' Rom. 4.

22 INTRODUCTION

become a word of God, but, if you desire my flesh,
then shall I be again a mere cry.' ^ To the people of
Smyrna he says, * Near to the sword, near to God ; in
company with wild beasts, in company with God. Only
let it be in the name of Jesus Christ, so that we may
suffer together with Him/^ *It is,' he writes to Poly-
carp, * the part of a great athlete to suffer blows and
be victorious.'^ The route taken by his guards was
probably overland by the Syrian and Cilician Gates to
Smyrna, Troas, and Philippi, and thence to Rome. At
some point in the journey the road branched in two
directions, the southern route following the line of the
great trade highway through Tralles, Magnesia, and
Ephesus, while the more northern lay through Phila-
delphia and Sardis. The latter was the route followed
by the Roman guards, and after a stay at Philadelphia
(Philad. I, 6, 7, 8), Ignatius reached Smyrna, where he
was hospitably received by the Church and its bishop,
Polycarp. Meanwhile messengers appear to have in-
formed the churches lying on the southern route of the
martyr's approaching visit to Smyrna, and accordingly
delegates were sent to Smyrna to meet him from
Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles. Their arrival appears
to have greatly cheered Ignatius, and he accordingly
addressed a letter to each of the churches from which
they came, acknowledging their attentions and giving
them practical counsel upon the dangers to which they
were exposed.* At the same time he wrote a letter to
the Church at Rome. The Roman Christians had heard
of his journey from certain members of the Syrian
church who had preceded him (Rom. 10), and he fears
that some of their more influential members may exert
themselves to procure a respite. He entreats them not
to hinder him from * attaining unto God,' and expresses
in exuberant and passionate language his desire for
martyrdom. The next halting-place at which we hear
of him is Troas, from which he wrote the three remain-
ing letters, to the Philadelphians, to the Smyrnaeans,

* Rom. 2. ^ Smyrn. 4. ^ Polyc. 3.

* On the heresies attacked, see Add. Note i.

ST. IGNATIUS THE MARTYR 23

and to Polycarp. All these letters were written after
he had received the news that the persecution in Syria
had ceased. He accordingly asks that delegates should
be sent to Antioch with congratulations. From Polyc. 8
we learn that he was on the point of sailing to Neapolis.
The next mention of him is in Polycarp's letter to the
Philippians (cc. 9, 13), in which he asks for tidings of
Ignatius, who had passed through their city. Polycarp
also states that he is sending them, at their request,
a packet of the letters of Ignatius. This is the last we
hear of him. His fame as a martyr spread through
the East, and his letters were translated into Syriac,
Armenian, and Coptic. Around his life and death
there grew a wealth of legend. His name Theophorus
gave rise to two such legends. One of these, not found
before the end of the ninth century, evidently under-
stands the name to mean *the God-borne,' and repre-
sents Ignutius as the child whom our Lord took in
. His arms (Mark ix. 36, 37).

Another story, which comes from the Western Church
and had a much more limited circulation, is founded
upon the other sense of the name Theophorus, * God-
bearer.' It is narrated by Vincent of Beauvais, who
tells us that * when his heart was cut into small pieces,
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was found inscribed
in golden letters on every single piece, as we read ; for
he had said that he had Christ in his heart.'

Various traditions connect him with one or other of
the Apostles. Theodoret speaks of him as having
* received the grace of the high-priesthood at the hand
of the great Peter.' In the Apostolic Constitutions he
is represented as having been ordained by St. Paul.
Another and more widely-spread tradition represented
him as a disciple of St. John.

A story is told us of the episcopate of Ignatius by the
historian Socrates, who wrote c. a.d. 440. He narrates
{H, E. vi. 8) how Ignatius * saw a vision of angels,
praising the Holy Trinity in antiphonal hymns, and left
the fashion of his vision as a custom to the Church at
Antioch.' Lightfoot thinks that this tradition may be

24 INTRODUCTION

traced to his language in such passages as Trail. 5, in
which he speaks of his power to grasp heavenly things
and the orders of angels, and also 10 his language in
Eph. 4, Rom. 7.^ where he bids his readers form into
a chorus and sing to the Father through Jesus Christ.

The Acts of his martyrdom ^ gave currency in East
and West to the story of his intervievv with the Emperor
Trajan, a story which, as we have seen, has no inde-
pendent authority apart from the spurious Acts in which
it is contained. The same Acts in like manner per-
petuated the varying traditions of East and West as to
the disposal of the reliques. In the latter part of the
fourth century his festival was kept in Syria and Greece
on October 17^ and the grave containing his reliques
was shown in the Christian cemetery at Antioch. It
was on one of these anniveisaries that the great preacher,
Chrysostom, while a presbyter at Antioch, delivered an
oration on the martyr, in which he shows evident tokens
of a belief in the translatic-n of the reliques from Rome
to Antioch. In the fifth century the reliques were
transferred with great pomp, by order of the Emperor,
the younger Theodosiiis, to the old Temple of Fortune,
known henceforth as the Church of Ignatius. The date
of his festival came to be transferred to December 20th,
which was probably the date of the translation of the
reliques to their new resting-place. In later times this
anniversary was kept as a public festival at Antioch,
and was celebrated with rites of great magnificence.

In the West, December 1 7th was at first kept as the
day of the martyrdom, but finally this date was assigned
to the translation of the reliques, and the festival of the
martyrdom was kept on February ist.

4. ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER.

Thk splendid example of the Christian martyr-spirit
was not the only legacy of Ignatius to the Church. In
the epistles which have come down to us he has pre-
sented to us the picture of a lofty, spiritual character,

* On these Acts of the martyrdom, see Add. Note 3.

ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 25

and has bequeathed to us a body of teaching, which
has given him a foremost place among the 'Apostolic
Fathers.'

The doctrinal and controversial interest of his writings
must not be allowed to obscure the profoundly spiritual
character which lies behind them. The letters abound
in maxims and in passages of great spiritual beauty.
They present to us a man, who has a keen insight into
the practical significance of the Incarnation and the
fresh, spiritual value which it has given to material
things. He can say even of the simple events of daily
life, * Those things which you do after the flesh are
spiritual, for you do all things in Jesus Christ.' ^ Though
he is the uncompromising champion of Church order
and the ministry, we find him saying, *Let not office
puff up any man, for faith and love are all in all.'^
Amid all his insistence upon outward unity, he does
not forget to remind us that the inner principle of union
is God Himself.^ So again, he loves to dwell on the
* silence' of God's working.^ To Ignatius, Christ and
His Cross are all in all. In the Passion of Jesus Christ
lies the power which draws his heart from all earthly
longings.^ Hence his one aspiration, expressed a ;ain
and again, is *that I may attain unto God.' And yet
throughout there breathes a deep spirit of humility. He
is *one born out of due time,' ^ *the last (of all).'^
Though at the close of a long career, he writes, * Now
I am beginning to be a disciple.' ®

His teaching reflects the natural character and circum-
stances of its author. Thus the deep vein of mysticism
which pervades these letters may be partly due to the
intense and fervid Oriental character of the writer.
Again, the influences of heathen training show them-
selves to some degree in the form in which he appre-
hended Christianity. The idea of union with God, and
the conception of redemption as deliverance from death

* Eph. 8. * Smyrn. 6.

» Trail. II. * Eph. 15, 19.

* See Rom. 7. ^ Rom. 9.
' Eph. 21, Trail. 13, Rom. 9. Eph. 3.

26 INTRODUCTION

and the power of demons, present points of contact with
the religious ideas of the heathen world, as we know it
in the first and second centuries, and are such as
would naturally attract a convert from heathenism.
And further, if we could trust the later tradition, which
is not impossible so far as dates are concerned (though
worthless in itself), that St. John was the teacher of
Ignatius, we should find a natural explanation of the
close relationship between his thought and that of the
Johannine writings.

As compared with later teaching, the theology of
Ignatius, like that of the other * Apostolic Fathers,'
exhibits in some respects an immature and undeveloped
character. It was only slowly that men came to sound
the depths of the teaching of St. Paul and St. John,
and to grasp the eternal relations of the truths revealed
in time. Hence we find in Ignatius a use of doctrinal
terms, which would have been avoided by the more
exact theology of a later age. Instances are the phrases,
* the blood of God,' ^ * the passion of my God,' - and the
word *unoriginate,'^ which, as applied to our Lord,
might seem to deny the Eternal Generation. There is
also an absence of any references to the work of the
Son of God in the world before the Incarnation (except,
perhaps, in Magn. 8), and of the doctrine of His agency
in Creation such as we find in St. Paul. While Ignatius
applies to Him the title * Logos' or * Word,' ^ and else-
where speaks of Him as * the Mind of the Father,' ^ and
*the unerring Mouth whereby the Father spake ;/ ^
while, moreover, he asserts the Divine Sonship, and
once uses the phrase, * the Only Son,' '^ yet he nowhere
speaks of the eternal relations of this Divine Sonship
to the Fatherhood of God, beyond the mere fact of the
Son's pre-existence with the Father.® How far the
human nature was complete, whether Christ had a
human soul, how the two natures are united in One
Person, these are (juestions which lie outside the scope

' Eph. I. 2 i^o„, 6 3 Ep^,^ 7.

* Magn. 8. » Eph. 3. « Rom. 8.

' Rom. inscr. ® Polyc. 3, Magn. 6.

ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 27

and grasp of the teaching of Ignatius. Nor again do
the epistles present us with a theology of the Cross, or
attempt to sound the depths of St. Paul's teaching upon
the Death of Christ. The idea of * justification' is
found only in two passages, /. e. Rom. 5 and Phi lad. 8,
and only in the latter of these is it used in connection
with the Passion. The word * propitiation ' does not
occur, and there is only one mention of * forgiveness '
in connection with repentance, in Philad. 8. It is not
maintained that Ignatius ignored the teaching associated
with such language. His repeated references to the
Cross and Passion imply the contrary. But his par-
ticular contribution to Christian thought and teaching
lay in another direction, and he was content accordingly
to repeat, without developing, the simple language of
his time upon the Death of Christ.

Such are some of the limits within which the teaching
of these epistles moves. But when we come to their
positive contents, we find that they witness to a Church
tradition which is singularly full and varied, and, above
all, they present a view of the Person of Jesus Christ,
which is richer and more complete than anything to
be found in the writings of the other 'Apostolic
Fathers.*

With regard to the former of these, the witness of the
epistles to the Church tradition of their time, we may
quote the language of Dr. Harnack {Chronologie, p. xi).-
Speaking of the epistles of St. Clement and St. Ignatius,
he says : * He who diligently studies these letters cannot
fail to perceive what a fulness of traditions, subjects of
preaching, doctrines, and forms of organization already
existed in the time of Trajan, and in individual churches
had attained a secure position.' Among the contents of
this Church tradition, we may notice the reference to the
Threefold Name in Magn. 13 (cf. Eph. 9, Philad. inscr.).
When we come to the historical facts of the Lord's
earthly life, we find, first of all, a clear and emphatic
witness to the Virgin birth. *The virginity of Mary and
her child-bearing ' formed two of the * three mysteries,'
* wrought in the silence of God,' but now * to be

28 .INTRODUCriON

proclaimed aloud.' ^ Against the Docetic heretics he is
never weary of emphasizing, in language that presents
the appearance of being derived either from liturgical
formulae or short creed-like statements,'^ the Virgin-birth,
the Davidic descent, the baptism by John, the crucifixion
under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, and the
resurrection. See esp. the two passages. Trail. 9, Smyrn.
I, 2. He mentions the star seen at the birth of Jesus
Christ,^ and dwells upon the intercourse of the Lord,
after His Resurrection, with the Apostles.* Of interest
too is the reference to the descent into Hades in Magn.
9 (cf. Philad. 5, 9). He nowhere speaks of the actual
fact of the Ascension, although it is presupposed in
Magn. 7. But, for the purposes which he had in hand,
it did not possess the same immediate interest as the
facts of the Birth, Passion, and Resurrection, which
witness to the reality of the Lord's human nature. The
references to the Second Coming of the Lord are very
slight. See Eph. 15, and compare the expression in
Rom. 10, * patient abiding for Jesus Christ.' Ignatius
speaks' of the Holy Spirit in language which plainly
shows that he regarded Him as distinct from the Father
and the Son Cf. Magn. 13. He speaks of Him as
* from God,' ^ and regards the miraculous conception of
Jesus Christ as wrought through His agency.® Else-
where he dwells upon His work of sanctification in the
. Church. See especially the striking passage in Eph. 9,.
and cf. Philad. inscr., Magn. 13. In Philad. 7, Ignatius
claims to have received personal revelations from the
Si)irit.

In two passages Ignatius refers to ordinances of the
Apostles. In Magn. 1 3 the readers are bidden to stand
fast *in the ordinances of the Lord and the Apostles.'
In Trail. 7 they are urged to be * inseparable from Jesus
Christ and the bishop, and the ordinances of the
Apostles.'

When we come to examine the relation of these letters
to the Canon of Scripture, we find very strong traces of

^ Eph. 19. *^ See p. 17. ' Eph. 19.

* Smyrn. 3. ^ Philad. 7. « Eph. 18.

ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 29

the influence of the thoughts and idc as preserved for us
in the books of the New Testament, but comparatively
few traces of actual quotation from any of the writers of
the New Testament. The cast of thought shows strong
affinities with the ideas of the Johannine writings and
the later epistles of St. Paul, especially St. Paul's Epistle
to the Ephesians. But it is difficult to prove that
Ignatius is in any passage quoting from the Fourth
Gospel. The contrasts between life and death, God
and the prince of this world, and the emphasis on
knowledge and faith, truth and lov^, move in the same
circles of ideas as the Fourth Gospel. Again, the refer-
ence to Christ as *the Door' (Philad. 9), the phrases
*the bread of God,' * living water' (Rom. 7), lastly the
words in Philad. 7, 'the Spirit is from (}od. I'or
it knoweth whence it cometh and whither it goeth,'
present striking parallels to the language of the Gospel,
and suggest that either Ignatius was familiar with the
Gospel, or that he had lived in surroundings where the
ideas and teaching representefd in our present Gospel
were current. Lastly, there is the possibility already
referred to above (p. 26), that Ignatius had been a
disciple of St. John. For the suggested parallel with
John xii. 3 found in Eph. 17, see note on that passage.
The allusions of Ignatius to the actions and words of
the Lord exhibit a tradition most closely akin to that
found in St. Matthew's Gospel, with which these epistles
exhibit more numerous parallels than with any other
N. T. writing. In no passage does he allude definitely
to written gospels, though Philad. 5 seems to point to
a collection of apostolic writings In one instance ^ he
quotes from an apocryphal source, whether written or
traditional we cannot tell. For the passage Eph. 19,
see notes. With the epistles of St. Paul there are many
parallels pointing to the author's acquaintance with
them, though without actual quotation. In Eph. 12
the author directly speaks of St. Paul and his epistles.
For further parallels with books of the New Testament,
see Index of Scriptural passages. We may say in con-

^ Smyrn. 3.

30 INTRODUCllON

elusion that the epistles point to a period in which the
New Testament writings, though current, had not super-
seded the oral tradition of the Church, as an authority
and standard of teaching.

For his attitude towards the Old Testament, see Magn.
8 — lo, Phi lad. 5, 8, 9, with notes.

Ignatius' conception of the Christian faith is more
striking than that of any sub-apostolic writer. He starts
not from Creation or the Old Testament but from the
revelation of God in Christ. In Christ's appearing God
has revealed Himself in man, the Eternal in time, the
Spiritual in the material.^ The antithesis of 'spirit' and
* flesh,' which is conceived of as reconciled in Christ,
runs through the whole theology of Ignatius.- The
whole earthly life of Christ has a place in the mystery
of redemption, which has a significance for the whole
Creation.^ Thus he speaks of * the virginity of Mary,
and her child-bearing, likewise also the death of the
Lord,' as * three mysteries to be proclaimed aloud.'*
It is the Person and not merely the teaching of Christ,
which is of importance. He is *our God,' *my God,'
*God in man,' though never apparently called God
absolutely without some defining words.* The con-
troversial pmrpose of the letters leads Ignatius to lay
special stress upon the reality of the human nature of
Christ. The Docetae, whom he is attacking, conceived
of the existence of Christ in a purely metaphysical way,
as a spiritual or ideal existence. Against this view
Ignatius sets the historical Christ, whose appearing in
human form becomes the medium of God's revelation
and alone guarantees its truth to man. Hence he
emphasizes the facts of His earthly life. The Coming
of the Saviour, His Passion and His Resurrection are the
three points which distinguish the Gospel from all earlier
teaching.** Through the Cross, Death, and Resurrection

' See esp. Eph. 7, Polyc. 3.

2 Cf. Eph. 8, Magn. i, 13, Polyc. 2.

8 Trail. 9, Smyrn. 6. * Eph. 19.

''' Cf. Eph. inscr., i, 7, 18, Rom. inscr., Smyrn. I, Polyc. 8.

" Philnd. 9, cf. Magn. 1 1.

ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 31

he seeks to be justified.^ Especially prominent is the
place which he assigns to the Passion. In the inscrip-
tions to two letters (Philad., Trail.) he speaks of the
Churches addressed, as 'rejoicing in the Passion' and

* at peace in flesh and spirit through the Passion of Jesus
Christ.' 2 The Blood of Christ reveals God's love.^ In
Smyrn. 6 he Sjieaks of Christ as suffering * for our sins,'
and in Eph. 18 he associates Baptism with the cleansing
power of the Passion.* In addition to these incidental
allusions, he shows acquaintance in one passage^ with
the ideas represented in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Christ is * the High Priest, Who has been entrusted with
the Holy of Holies,' but Ignatius immediately connects
this thought with that of Christ as the * Door ' of the
Father, a conception which we find in John x. 9. In
Philad. 8, 11, he speaks of being delivered from * every
bond,' and being * ransomed' by the grace of Jesus
Christ. In these respects he echoes the traditional
language of his time. The ideas, however, which chiefly
occupy his thoughts are that the Death and Resurrection
of Christ have annihilated death, have freed man from
the power of evil,® and have given him the assurance of
eternal life through union with God in Christ. Christ,

* our life,' ' has passed through death, and life is assured
to those who believe in Him and are united with Him.
Hence Christians are * branches of the Cross.' ® Thus
his teaching presents points of contact with St. John, and
with the later, rather than the earlier, teaching of St.
Paul. St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians exhibits the
nearest point of contact between Ignatius and St. Paul.
In this connection notice especially the language of Eph.
19, 20 upon *the new man,' and of Trail, ir upon *the
one Body.'

The reconciliation of the antithesis between * flesh '
and * spirit' through the union of God and man in Christ
is realized practically by Christians in the life of faith

1 Philad. 8. 2 Qf Epi,^ jngcr.

» Trail. 8, Rom. 7. •* Cf also Trail. li, Rom. 6.

* Philad. 9. • E|)h. 19, Philad. 8.

' Eph. 3, Smyrn. 4. *^ Trail. 11.

32 INTRODUCTION

and love.^ But it finds its fullest expression in the unity
of the Church, which represents Christ and shares His
life and twofold nature.^ Hence the unity of the Church
is at once * of flesh ' and *of spirit.'^ The insistence of
Ignatius upon the visible unity of the Church is not
adequately explained by the pressure of heresy. That
he was led to give special emphasis to it by the dangers
of his time is undoubtedly true. But it is plainly a
consequence of his belief in the principle of the Incarna-
tion, the reconciliation of the outward and the inward,
of * spirit ' and '* flesh,' of * God ' and ' man.' The Catholic
Church is the Body of Christ, and secures the perpetual
communication of the One Life of Christ* To impair
the unity of the Church by false teaching and separatism
is to cut oneself off" from the Passion and the sacramental
life- of the Church.^

The individual churches represent locally the universal
Church. As Jesus Christ is the Head of the universal
Church, so is the bishop the head of the local Church.®
He is God's representative,^ as being the chief member
of the local representation of that Church which is the
Body of Christ. Hence the bishops are spoken of as
being *in the mind of Jesus Christ.'® They represent,
and carry on that reconciliation of * flesh ' and * spirit,'
which is assured through the Incarnation. Thus Ignatius
writes to Polycarp : * Therefore you are of flesh and
spirit, that you may humour the things which are visibly
present before your face.' ® The ministry in the Ignatian
epistles shows a more developed character than that
described in the books of the New Testament and the
writings of the sub-apostolic age. In the New Testament
we find that the administration of the local churches
was in the hands of a body of officials who are some-

^ Eph. 8, 14, Smyrn. 6, 13. ^ Smyrn. I, Eph. 5, 17.

^ Epb. 10, Magn. i, 13, Rom. in«^cr., Smyrn. 12, cf. Eph. 7.

^ Smyrn. 8, Eph. 5, Trail. 11.

^ Philad. 3, Smyrn. 6, 8. « Smyrn. 8.

' Kph. 6, Magn. 3, Trail. 2, 3. ^ Eph. 3, cf. Philad. inscr.

'•^ Polyc. 2.

ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 33

times spoken of as presbyters and sometimes as * bishops '
(episcopi)y We find a similar use of terms when we pass
beyond the New Testament. The local ministry consists
of * bishops and deacons' (Didache), or * presbyters and
deacons ' (Polycarp, ad Philipp. 5, 6), while Clement of
Rome sometimes speaks of * presbyters ' and sometimes
of * bishops/ when he is referring apparently to the same
office. But in no case do we read of a single * bishop '
as the resident head of a local community. On the
other hand, in the position of St. James at Jerusalem
(Acts xii. 17, XV. 2, xxi. 18) we have what appears to be
an anticipation of the functions (though the name does
not appear) of the * bishop' of the Ignatian epistles,
seeing that St. James is represented as head or president
of a body of presbyters who control the local affairs of
the Church and through whom all communications with
the Church take place. This position, however, appears
to have been peculiar to Jerusalem. Elsewhere the
Apostles appear to have exercised a general superin-
tendence over the churches which they had founded,
and in the Pastoral Epistles we find Timothy and Titus
receiving a commission (probably temporary) from St.
Paul to act as * apostolic delegates ' and to ordain clergy
and administer discipline in the churches of Ephesus
and Crete. In the Didache we hear also of itinerant
apostles, prophets, and teachers, who visit the local
church, and directions are given that, if a prophet wishes
to settle among them, he is to be accorded a position of
pre-eminence. At the same time injunctions arc given
that * bishops and deacons ' are to be held in honour
* for they also minister to you the ministry of prophets
and teachers.' In this picture we see a survival of the
honour and esteem in which the special gifts of missionary
apostles and Christian prophets were held, and a dis-
position to rank on a lower level the local ministry of
office.*^ But as the Apostles and early missionaries

^ For a fuller discussion, see Additional Note 2.
* On the v.ilue of the testimony of ihe Didache, see Dean Robinson
in Essays on the Early history of the Church and Ministry^ p. 68.

C

34 INTRODUCTION

passed away, and the gift of prophecy became rare,^ the
local ministry absorbed many of the permanent functions
exercised by these earlier ministries. These new con-
ditions are reflected in the Ignatian epistles.

(i) There is no trace of the itineraht ministry of
apostles and prophets which we find in the Didache,
and we read only of the local threefold ministry of
bishops, priests, and deacons.

(ii) At the head of each church thore is a single
bishop, who is superior to the presbyters, though closely
associated with them. The bishop alone can give the
requisite authority for the performance of ministerial
acts.^ The monarchical character of his office is clearly
shown by the, comparison of the bishop to * the Father '
or * Jesus Christ,' while the presbyters represent the
Apostles. On this comparison see antea^ p. 19.

(iii) The bishop's office is localized and he is perman-
ently attached to the local church. Ignatius mentions
the bishops of the cities of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles,
Philadelphia and Smyrna. Of a diocese, in the later
sense of the word, there is no trace,^ and the bishop's
authority is not, like that of the Apostles, of a general,
undefined character, but is limited to a particular
church.

I'hus in the Ignatian Epistles we find the three orders
of bishops, priests, and deacons. The bishop's office
appears for the first time under the name by which it has
since been known in history, although, as we have seen,
there is something like an anticipation of the position
occupied by him in the presidency of St. James in the
Church of Jerusalem.

There are a few other facts which may be noticed
about the ministry in the Ignatian Epistles.

^ Ignatius, however, claims the gift of prophecy in Philad. 7.
See note.

^ Smyrn. 8.

' In Rom. 2 Ignatius calls himself * bishop of Syria,' and else-
where he refers to the * Church of Syria' and its connection with
himself. CI. Eph. 21, Magn. 14, Rom. 9, Trail. 13. Probably
tlu re was only one Christian centre in Coele-Syria at this time, in
which case * Syria ' is a synonym of Antioch. See note Rom. 2.

ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 35

1. Closely associated with the bishops, and forming a

* spiritual coronar about him, are the presbyters, and
with them the deacons. The bishop's authority, though
monarchical, * is very far from being autocratic' ^ In his
administration the presbyters form a * council ' ^ around
him as *the strings to a harp.'^ The writer is scarcely
less emphatic in asserting the duty of obedience to the
presbyters than he is to the bishop. If the bishop repre-
sents the Lord, the presbyters represent the Apostles.*
Ignatius bids his readers be subject to the bishop * as
unto the grace of God,' and to the presbytery *as unto
the law of Jesus Christ.'®

Similarly he bids his readers obey the deacons. The
three orders together form a central authority, so that

* without these there is no church deserving the name.' ^

2. Ignatius tells us little of the source of the bishop's
authority or of the way in which such authority was
delegated to him. He speaks of the bishops as repre-
senting the authority of Christ, though never as succeeding
to the Apostles. On the other hand, he compares the
presbyters to the Apostles, though he is thinking of the
Apostles in their relation to Christ during His ministry
and not as they were after the Ascension, when they
themselves became the representatives of Christ. "^ The
only passage in which it has been suggested that Ignatius
claims apostolic authority for the bishop's office is Trail.
7, where he urges them to be * inseparable from J^sus
Christ and the bishop and the ordinances of the Apostles.'
In this last phrase Lighlfoot sees a reference to the
institution of episcopacy (see note on the passage).
Similarly in Trail. 1 2 Ignatius bids them * severally,
and especially the presbyters, refresh the bishop to the
honour of the Father and of Jesus Christ and of the
Apostles.'

3. The language of the epistles does not support the
view of Ramsay and others, that episcopacy is insisted

Lightfoot, I, p. 397. 2 Sec aniea^ p. 18.

® Eph. 4. * Magn. 6, Trail. 2, 3, Smyrn. 8.

** Magn. 2. « Trail. 3.

' See Gore, Churchjand Ministry^ pp. 303, 304.

36 INTRODUCTION

on so strongly in these letters because Ignatius recog
nized it as a new and valuable institution, which he
desired to see established everywhere.^ From other
sources, indeed, it would seem that a representative of
the episcopal order was not established in every city
church at this time, as in the case of Philippi, in writing
to which Church Polycarp only makes mention of their
presbyters and deacons.^ But when we study the Igna-
tian epistles themselves, we see no trace of an idea that
the episcopal office is of recent introduction. The writer
speaks of the * bishops established in the furthest
quarters.' ^ Without the three orders of bishops, pres-
byters, and deacons * there is no church deserving the
name.'* Nor can we draw any argument from the
absence of any mention of the bishop in the Epistle
to the Romans. That epistle is of a purely personal
character, and it is written with reference to the action
of certain members of the Church of Rome, who were
anxious to procure a respite for Ignatius. He nowhere
salutes or makes mention of any of the officers of the
Church in that city, whether bishop, presbyters, or
deacons. Hence no argument can fairly be drawn from
the absence of all mention of the ministry in the Roman
Church, in favour of the idea that the Church at Rome
did not possess a representative of one of the three
orders, i.e, a bishop.

The repeated insistence by Ignatius on the duty of
obedience to this threefold ministry was occasioned by
the danger arising in his day from the heretical and
separatist tendencies of the Docetic and Judaic parties.
But it has its roots in that idea of the Church and its
unity which we have already described. The same
principle, the union of * flesh ' and * spirit,' of outward
and inward, appears in his language upon the Eucharist
in Philad. 4, Smyrn. 6, 8. On the one hand, he uses
clear and definite language as to the nature of the gift
received in the sacrament. The Eucharist is * the flesh
of Christ,' * the gift of God,' * the medicine of immor-

1 Ch. in A'. Etfip.^YiV- 370 foil. ^ Poiyc, Phil. 5.

» Eph. 3. .* Trail. 3.

ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 37

tality ' ; the * one cup ' brings us into * union with the
Blood ' of Christ. On the other hand, there is a strong
vein of mysticism in his teaching, which leads him to
speak of * faith ' as the * flesh ' of Christ, and * love ' as * the
blood ' of Christ (Trail. 8, Rom. 7). The dangers of
the time led Ignatius to an emphatic warning to his
readers to guard the sacramental unity of the Church,
which was broken by the separatists. They are to
assemble at the * one altar.' ^ Without the bishop's
authority they are not * to baptize or hold a love-feast.'
His authority alone gives * validity* and * security ' to
whatever is done.' ^

For his language on baptism, see Eph. 18, Smyrn. 8,
Polyc. 6.

The teaching of Ignatius upon the Incarnation, as a
fact and as a principle, has its roots in the teaching of St.
Paul and St. John, and was taken up by later Fathers.
At the close of the second century it finds expression in
St. Irenseus. Once more, amid the perils arising from
Arianism, St. Athanasius, in the fourth century, seized
upon its leading idea, that in Jesus Christ God Himself
has entered our human nature, in order to reveal Him-
self to man and endow man with the gift of eternal life.
In that faith has lain the secret of * the victory that over-
cometh the world.'

Once again, when Ignatius asserted that in the Incar-
nation was effected the reconciliation of * flesh ' and
* spirit,' of the material and the spiritual, he stated a
principle that has found expression in the life and worshi[)
of the Catholic Church. Gnosticism and later mysticism
alike have emphasized the opposition between spirit and
matter, and have tended to despiritualize the material.
In the Middle Ages men were inclined to confuse the
two, and so to materialize the spiritual. In her unchang-
ing faith and the permanent elements of her life and
worship, the Church witnesses to the truer view, and
reconciles the antithesis. In * the Word made flesh ' we
see the promise of the consummation of all things.

^ Eph. 5 20, Magn. 7, Trail. 7, Philad. 4 (wiih notes).
2 Smyrn. 8.

I. THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

[Kphesus was the capital uf the Roman province of Asia, and
was the port whicli conducted in Roman times most of the trade
of the great highway Iciding from ihe East lo the yEgjean. There
is probably an allusion lo this great trade-route in Eph. 12. The
city was naturally chosen by St. Paul as a centre for missionary
labours. See Acts xviii., xix. Christianity spread rapidly, and
Ephesus is mentioned first among the seven churches of Asia in the
book of Revelation (Rev. i. 11, ii. i). A tradition dating from the
last quarter of the second century represents St. John as spending
his later years at Ephesus (see c. 11, note). Ignatius had not
visited Ephesus, but the Church had sent delegates to him at
Smyrna. The present letter was written from Smyrna to thank
them for their kindly interest in him. He reminds them of their
glorious history (cc. 8, 11, 12), and praises them for their adher-
ence to the truth and their regard for order (c. 6). At the same
time he .warns them against false teachers who had been passing
through Ephesus (c. 9). He urges upon them the importance, in
face of heresy, of faith in the historical manifestation of Jesus Christ,
a more frequent use of corporate worship, and adherence to the
bishop. From the language of cc. 7, 18, 19, 20, and the opening
inscription (see notes), it would seem that the heresy alluded to
was Docetic. There are no references to Judaism.]

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus,^ to her that is
blessed with greatness ^ through, the fulness ® of God

* Probably a title adopted by Ignatius himself to remind him of
his Christian calling. The word may bear an active or a pas^^ive
me.ining, * bearing God' or * borne (or inspired) by God,' according
as we reati it Beo<p6pos or deStpopos. In favour of the active mean-
ing it may be u»ged, (i) Ignatius in c. 9 uses the word in this
sense. (2) The word was commonly interpreted in this sense in
the following centuries. Thus, in the Antiochene Acts of the
Martyrdom, c. 2, when Trajan asks, * Who is he that beareth God? '
Ignatius replies, * He that hath Christ in his breast.' (3) The
idea thus contained in the word was common in early writers.
Cf. the early Latin reading of i Cor. vi. 20, * glorify atid bear God
in your body,' found also in Tertullian and Cyprian. From the
]>assive sense, 'borne by God' arose the tradition that Ignatius
was the child whom our Lord took up in His arms (Mark ix. 36).
'•Ihe word 'greatness* refers to the spiritual growth of the
Church at Ephesus.

The word 'fulness,' ox pkroma^ is the word used in John i. 16,

38

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 39

the Father, foreordained before the ages to be con-
tinually for abiding and unchangeable glory ; united and
chosen out by a passion truly suffered/ through the
will of the Father and Jesus Christ our God; to the
Church which is at Ephesus [in Asia], worthy of con-
gratulation, heartiest greeting in Jesus Christ and in joy
that is without reproach.

I. I welcomed in God your dearly loved name,^ which
is yours by nature* [in an upright and just mind] by
faith and love towards Christ Jesus our Saviour. Being
imitators of God, you were kindled into action by the
blood of God, and perfectly fulfilled a task which
accorded with your nature. For when you heard * that
I was come from Syria in bonds for the Name and
hope common to us all, and that I was hoping by your
prayer to attain my purpose of fighting with wild beasts
at Rome, that through my attaining I may be enabled
to be a disciple, you were anxious to visit me. I
received therefore your numerous body* in the name
of God in the person of Onesimus, whose love surpasses

tiom. XV. 29, Eph. i. 23, etc. It denotes, in the language of St.
Paul anil '8t. John, the whole sum of the Divine attributes. Out
of the Divine fulness each man receives the gifts and graces needed
for the spiritual life. The word * fulness,' as also the words
'blessed,' * foreordained,' ^glor)',' * chosen out,* 'the will [of the
Father],' are perhaps reminiscences of the opening verses of St.
Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians.

* The words * truly suffered ' are an allusion to the Docetic error.

* The word * name ' is used in the sense of * character.'

* This character was due to natural gifts rather than training or
accidental circumstances. The words in brackets have been added
by Light foot from the abridged Syriac version, having probably
fallen out at a time earlier than any existing copies of the
Greek text.

** Probably at the point where Ignatius' guards took the northern
route through Philadelphia, instead of the southern route through
Tralles, Magnesia, and Ephesus, messengers were sent to inform
those Churches of Ignatius' approaching visit to Smyrna.

* In receiving their bishop Onesimus, Ignatius received the
whole Church which he represented.

40 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

words, who is, besides, in the flesh your bishop. I pray
that you may love him with a love according to Jesus
Christ, and that you may all be like him. For blessed
is He Who granted unto you, worthy as you are, to
possess such a bishop.

II. Concerning my fellow-servant Burrhus,^ who by
God's appointment is your deacon and is blessed in
all things, I pray that he may remain here unto the
honour of yourselves and the bishop. And Crocus,
who is worthy of God and of you, whom I received
as a pattern of the love borne by you, has relieved me
in all things — may the Father of Jesus Christ in like
manner refresh ^ him — along with Onesimus and Bur-
rhus and Euplus and Fronto, in whose presence my
love saw you all. May I have joy of you all continually,
if I be worthy. So then it is fitting in every way to
glorify Jesus Christ Who has glorified you, that in
one obedience you may be perfectly joined together,
submitting yourselves to the bishop and to the pres-
bytery, and may in all thmgs be found sanctified.

III. I do not command you, as though I were
somewhat. For even though I be bound in the Name,
I have not yet become perfected in Jesus Christ. For
now I am making a beginning of discipleship, and I
address you as my fellow-disciples.® For it were meet
for me to be anointed by you* for the contest with

* For Burrhus, cf. Philad. 1 1, Smyrn. 12, from which we see
that the request of Ignatius was granted.

* Probably a reminiscence of 2 Tim. i. 16.

* The word used here (<ri;i'5i5o(r/foAtToi) is understood by Light-
foot and Zihn to mean 'school-ftdlows.' The word is not found
elsewhere, but Light foot adduces in iUustration a Latin word found
in inscriptions, * compedagogita,' which is used in the plural to
denote slaves trained in the snme school or under the same master.
The master in this ca>e is Christ.

* The anointing of the athlete w<ns the work of the trainer.
Cf. Rom. 3. In both passages the idea is that the Church alluded

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 41

faith, admonition, patience, long-suffering. But^ since
love does not suffer me to be silent concerning you,
I have therefore hastened to exhort you to set yourselves
in harmony with the mind of God. For even Jesus
Christ, our inseparable Life, is the Mind of the Father,
as also the bishops, established in the furthest quarters,^
are in the mind of Jesus Christ. *

IV. Hence it is fitting for you to set yourselves in
harmony with the mind of the bishop, as indeed you
do. For your noble presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted
to the bishop, as the strings to a harp. And thus by
means of your accord and harmonious love Jesus Christ
is sung.2 Form yourselves one and all into a choir, that
blending in concord, taking the key-note of God, you
may sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christ
to the Father, that He may hear you and recognize by
means of your well-doing that you are members of His
Son. Therefore it is profitable for you to live in
unblameable unity, that you may be also partakers of
God continually.

V. For if I in a short space of time had such inter-
course with your bishop, not after the common way of
men, but after the spirit, how much more do I con-

to had encouraged and instructed, by example and precept, the
martyrs of Christ. Ephesus was, in Ignatius' phrase, ' the highway
of martyrs' (c. 12). I'risoners condemned to the wild beasts in
the Roman amphitheatre, coming from the East, ^*ould in most
cases sail from the port of Ephesus to Ostia. Ramsay (Ch. in
A\ Emp.f p. 318) shows that the route taken by Ignatius was
unusual.

^ Ii^natius is introducing the great theme found in all his epistles,
the importance of unity. Christ is at one with the Father ; the
bishops, however distant from each other, are at one with Jesus
Christ. In the phrase * furthest quarters,' 'Ignatius would be
contemplating regions as distant as Gaul on the one hand and
Mesopotamia on the other' (Lightfoot).

* Jesus Christ is tlie theme of their song For the mctnphor,
cf. Piiilad I, and Rom. 2.

42 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

gratulate you, who are knit to him as closely as is the
Church to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ to the Father,
that all things may accord in unity. Let no man be
deceived. If any one be not within the enclosure of
the altar,^ he lacks the bread of God.^ For if the
prayer of one or two hath so great efficacy, ^ how much
more has the prayer of the bishop and of the whole
Church. So then he who comes not to the congregation
thereby shows his pride and straightway cuts himself
off. For it is written, * God resisteth the proud. ^ * So
then let us take heed not to resist the bishop, that we
may be living in submission to God.^

VI. And so far as a man sees a bishop keeping
silence,® let him hold him all the more in reverencr*.
For every one, whom the Master of the household sends
to administer His own household, we ought to receive
even as the Sender's very self. The bishop then we
ought plainly to regard as the Lord Himself. Now
Onesimus of his own accord praises highly your orderly
manner of life in God, how that you all live in accord-
ance with truth and that in your midst no heresy has
its dwelling. Nay, you do not even listen to any one
if he speak of aught beyond ^ Jesus Christ in truth.

VII. For some are wont, out of malicious cunning,

* On the word translated * enclosure of the altar,' see Trail. 7,
Philad. 4, with notes. The 'enclosure of the altar' is the court
of the congregation in the old Tahernacle or Temple. This was
separated from the outer court. Here ii denotes the assembly <tf
the faithful in each individual church.

* Lightfoot brackets the words * of God.'
^ C». Matt, xviii. 18 — 20.

* Prov. iii. 34.

^ The translation follows Zahn's reading. Lightfoot's text yiel Is
the sense, * we may be God's by our subjection.'

•* Ignatius is here indirectly pleading for their biihop Onesimus,
whose quiet and modest demeanour might lead some to despise
him. Cf. c. 15, and the similar directions in Thilad. i, Magn. 3.

' Lightfoot's reading has been followed.

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 43

to bear about with them the Name, while they practise
certain other deeds unworthy of God. These you must
needs avoid as wild beasts.^ For they are mad dogs,
biting stealthily, against whom you must be on your
guard, for their bite is hard to heal. There is one
Physician, of flesh and of spirit, ^ originate and un-
originate,^ God in man, true Life in death, son of
Mary* and Son of God, first passible and then
impassible, Jesus Christ our Lord.

VI I L Let no man then deceive you, as indeed you
are not deceived, for you are wholly given .to God. For
when no evil desire is implanted in you, which can
torment you, then are you living after a godly manner.
I devote myself to abasement for your sakes,^ I sur-

^ Cf. Smyrn. 4, Philad. 2.

* On the antithesis of * flesh ' and * spirit ' in these epistles, see
Introd. §4. The word 'spirit' expresses here the Divine nature
of Christ. We may compare 2 Clem. c. 9, * Christ the Lord ...
being first spirit, then became flesh.' The human element is
expressed by the word * flesh.' For this balanced antithesis, cf.

Polyc. 3. ;^ /». :, ,

' The terms employed by Ignatius are yevvi\r6s and hyivv7\ros, . . . ^

Ignatius is using the words to express little more than 'created ''l' \

and uncreate.' Such language, however, points to an early period .7 . ■'■ '
of doctrinal statement, and could not have been used in later days
without incurring the charge of heresy, as it would have seemed
to deny the Divine generation of the Son. 'The conception of a
Divine Sonship was realized by the Church before the conception
of a Divine generation ' (Swete, Apostles^ Creed, p. 28). Hence
the use of such language by Ignatius at a time when there was no
exact definition of theological terms involves nothing inconsis'ent
with the Nicene Creed, and afibrds no proof that he denied the
pre-existence of Christ. This latter finds expression in Magn. 6
and Polyc. 3. See further Lightfoot's Excursus, vol. ii. pp. 90, foil.

* The whole of this passage is aimed at the Docetic error, which
denied the reality of the Incarnation.

^ Literally, ' I am your oflfscouring.' The same word, v€pi}\friij.a,
is used by St. Paul in l Cor. iv. 13. It is a word used of con-
demned criminals of the lowest classes, who were saciifice<l as
expiatory offerings in limes of plague or other visitations, to avert
the wrath of the Gods. It thus includes the two ideas of * self-
devotion ' and 'abasement.'

44 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

render myself as an offering for the Church of you
Ephesians, which is renowned unto the ages. They that
are of the flesh cannot do the works of the Spirit,^
neither can they that are spiritual do the works of the
flesh, even as faith cannot do the works of unbelief, nor
unbelief the works of faith. But even the things which
you do after the flesh are spiritual.^ For you do all
things in Jesus Christ.

IX. I have learned that certain persons from yonder ^
have passed through your city, bringing with them false
teaching These you did not suffer to sow seeds among
you, for you closed your ears that they might not receive
the seeds sown by them, since you were stones * of the
temple, prepared beforehand ^ for a building of God the
Father, being raised to the heights by the engine of
Jesus Christ, which is the Cross, using as your rope the
Holy Spirit. Your faith is the windlass,^ and love is the
way which leads up to God. So then you ae all com-
panions in festal procession along the way,' bearing your

^ Suggested by i Cor. ii. 14 sq.

* See Introd. § 4.

* It is uncertain what place is alluded to. Lighifoot conjectures
Philadelphia.

* The change of metaphor is sudden, after the manner of Ignatius,
and is followed by another change. They are in succession the
soil in which seed is sown, stones of a building, and members of a
festal procession.

** Lightfoot's emendation has been adopted.

® The wh' le of this passage is a somewhat extravagant expansion
in great detail of the metaphor used by St. Paul in Eph. it. 20 sq.
In the building of the Church, the faithful are the stones, the Cross
is the crane, the Holy Spirit is the rope by which the stones are
raised, faith is the windlass which sets the machine in motion > and
love is the inclined plane along which the stones are drawn.

' Another change of metaphor. The figure is now a heathen
procession, in which the pilgrims, arrayed in f stal attire, carry-
small shrines, images, and other sacred emblems. Such processions
would be common in Syria, Asia, and elsewhere. For a gift of such .
images to the tcpipleof Artemis at Ephesus, see Lightfoot, Ignatius^
II. 17.

THE EPISTlJi: TO THE EPHESIANS 45

God and shrine/ bearing Christ and your holy treasures,
fully arrayed in the commandments of Jesus Christ.
And in your rejoicings I too have part, and am suffered
to associate with you by letter, and to rejoice with you
that you love nothing pertaining to man's outward life,^
but God only.

X. And for the rest of men pray unceasingly^ — for
there is in them hope of repentance — ^that they may
attain unto Ciod. Suffer them therefore to learn dis-
cipleship at least from your works. In face of their
outbursts of wrath be meek ; in face of their boastful
words be humble ; meet tl^^ir revilings with prayers ;
where they are in error, be steadfast in the faith*;
in face of their fury be gentle. Be not eager to retaliate
upon them. Let our forbearance i)rove us their brethren.
Let us endeavour to be imitators of the Lord, striving who
can suffer the greater wrong,^ who can be defrauded,
who be set at naught, that no rank weed of the Devil be
found in you. But in all purity and sobriety abide in
Christ Jesus in flesh and in spirit.

XL These are the last times.® Henceforth let us feel
shame, let us stand in awe of the long-suffering of God,
lest it turn to our judgment. For either let us fear the
wrath to come, or let us love the grace which is present
— either this or tliat ; only be it ours to be found in
Christ Jesus unto life which is life indeed. Apart from
Him, let nothing dazzle you. For in Him I wear my
bonds, my spiritual pearls, in which I pray that I may
rise again by the help of your prayer — may it ever be
mine to have a share in that — that I may be found among

^ For these shrines cf. Acts xix. 24. They were small nfiodels
offered to the god or goddess, or kept at home as amulets, and
sometimes j)hiced in graves by the side of ihe dead.

* Light foot's emendation has been adopted.

^ CT. I Thess. v. 17. ^ See Col. i. 23.

* A reminiscence of i Cor. vi. 7. ** Cf. I John ii. 18.

46 THE EPISTLK TO THK EPHESIANS

the band of those Ephesian Christians, who were, besides,
continually of one accord ^ with the Apostles -^ in the
power of Jesus Christ.

XII. I know who I am and to whom I write. I am
a condemned man, you have obtained mercy. I am
subject to peril, you are established secure. You are
the highway of those who are being conducted by death
unto God * You are initiated into the mysteries along
with Paul,* who was sanctified and well approved, who
is worthy of congratulation ; in whose footsteps may I

^ Or wiih Zahii's reading, 'consorted wiih.'

2 In addition to St. l*aul, who»had resided and taught at Ephesus,
there may be a reference to St. John, whom a tradition, dating from
the last quarter of the second century, represents as residing m his
later years at Ephesus. See Irena-'us, adv. Hicr. III. i. i ;
Polycrates, quote(l by Kusebius, H. E. v. 24 ; Clement of Alexan-
dria, Quis dives salvetur^ c. 42 ; cf. Tertullian, adv. Marc. iv. 5.
On the evidence of a statement attributed to Papias in some
recently recovered fragments of Philip of Side (fifth century) to the
effect thai the Apostle John was slain by the Jews, this residence at
Ephesus has been called in question l)y some recent scholars, and it
is certainly surprising that Ignatius in his letter to the Ephesians
nowhere expressly refers to St. John. See for a discussion of the
whole question Stanton, Gospels as Historical Documettts, I. 162 f.,
213 f. St. Peter's first epistle is addressed to Asiatic Christians, and
St. Andrew and St. Philip are represented in early tradition as
having lived in these regions.

• Ephesus was ' a highway of martyis. ' Criminals were frequently
reserved for the shows and hunting scenes in the amphitheatre, and
the provinces were resorted to for the supply of victims. The
Christians would be treated as common criminals, unless they were
Roman citizens. Such bands of prisoners from the East would
pass along the great route which readied the sea at Ephesus, and
would thence be shipped to Ostia, the port of Rome.

* A metaphor derived from the ancient mysteries and suggested
by the language of St. Paul, who constantly uses the' word of the
Gospel, and in Phil. iv. 12, speaks of himself as 'initiated' (A.V.
* I am instructed '). Ignatius is speaking of their intercourse with
mariyrs. Among these was St. Paul, who had resided and taught
at Ei)hesus. The notices in the Pastoral Epistles (i Tim. i. 3,
2 Tim. i. 18, iv. 13, 20) represent the Apostle as traversing these
same regions and, like Ignatius, journeying to Troas on his way
to Rome for his final trial and martyrdom. On the silence of
Ignatius as to St. John's residence at Ephesus, see note on c. 11.

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 47

be found closely following, when I attain unto God ;
who makes mention of you in every letter ^ in Christ
Jesus.

Xni. Be diligent therefore to come together more
often to render thanks ^ to God and to give glory. . For
when you frequently assemble together, the forces of
Satan are overthrown and the destruction which he is
planning is undone by the harmony of your faith.
Nothing is better than peace, by which all warfare of
heavenly and earthly foes is brought to naught.

XIV. None of these things escapes your notice, if
you hold fast perfectly your faith and love in Jesus
Christ, for these are the beginning and the end of life.
The beginning is faith, the end is love. And the two
blending in unity are God, and all else follows on these,
ending in perfect goodness. No man who professes
faith lives in sin, nor if he possesses love, does he live
in hatred. The tree is manifest by its fruil.^ In like
manner they who profess to be Christ's, shall be appaient
by their deeds. For at this time the Work* is no mere
matter of profession, but is seen only when a man is
found living in the power of faith unto the end.

XV. It 'is better to keep silence and to be than to
talk and not to be.^ It is good to teach, if the speaker
act. Now there was One Teacher, Who spake and it

^ The wortls 'in every letter' are difilcull. Pearson tianslates
'throughout his letter,' and refers it to the Epistle to the Ephesians.
There are, however, references to the Ephesian Christians and to
Ephesus in several of St. Paul's epistles, e,g. Roni. xvi. 5 ; i Cor.
XV. 32, xvi. 8, 19 ; 2 Cor. i. 8 sq. ; i Tim. i. 3 ; 2 Tim. i. 18, iv. 12.

'■^ Lit. *come together for thanksgiving.' The word 6uxo/)i<rWa
is •here probably used generally, but indirectly refers to the
Eucharist.

' See Matt. xii. 33 ; cf. Luke vi. 44.

* Kor 'the Work 'in the sense of 'the preaching and practice
of Christianity,' see Rom. 3, and cf. Acts xv. 38, Pliil. ii. 30. Cf.
also John. iv. 34, vi. 29, xvii. 4.

° Probably he is thinking of the quiet demeanour of their bishop.

48 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

came to pass.^ And the deeds which He has done in
silence are worthy of the Father. He who is truly
master of the spoken word of Jesus is able also to listen
to His silence,^ that he may be perfect, and so may
act by his speech, and be understood by his silence.
Nothing is hidden fiom the Lord, but even our secrets
are brought nigh unto Him. Let us therefore do all
things in the assurance that He dwells within us, that
we may be His shrines ^ and He Himself may dwell in
us as God. For this is indeed true and will be made
manifest before our eyes by the services of love which
as our bounden duty we render unto Him.

XVL Be not deceived, my brethren. They that
corrupt houses "* shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
If then they who did such deeds after the flesh were
put to death, how much more if a man by his evil
teaching corrupt God's faith for which Jesus Christ was
crucified. Such a man, becoming defiled, shall go
into unciuenchable fire, and in like manner he that
heareth him.

XVn. For this cause ^ the Lord received the oint-
ment * upon His head, that He might breathe the odour

'^ MIe applies to Christ's work the words which the I^ahiiist used
(Ps. xxxii. [xxxiii.] 9) of God's action in Creation.

^ Instances of this silence are the thirty years' retirement before
His public ministry, His withdrawal from popular demonstrations,
His retirement for prayer, and His silence at his trial.

^ Cf. I Cor. iii. 16, 17, vi. 19, 2 Cor. vi, 16, Rev. xxi. 3, and
see I'hilad. 7.

•* Suggested by the passages quoted in the preceding note. Tlie
* corrupters of houses ' refer to those wiio pollute their hearts and
lx)dies by evil.

* The words refer to what follows, * that He might breathe,' etc.

• This refers to the anointing at Bethany. See Mark xiv. 3 scj.,
Matt. xxvi. 6 sq., John xii. 2 sq. Zahn and Lightfoot find the
parallelism to 'breathe upon the church* in the words recorded
by St. John only, * the house was fdled with the odour of the
ointment.' They infer accordingly from the passage a knowledge
by Ignatius of St. John's narrative. But it is more probable that

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 49

of incorruption upon the Church. Be not anointed
with the foul odour of the teaching of the Prince of
this world, ^ lest he lead you captive and exclude you
from the life set before you. And why do we not all
become prudent by receiving the knowledge of God,
which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish
in ignorance of the gift which the Lord has truly
sent ?

XVHL My spirit abases itself for the sake of the
Cross, ^ which is an offence * to the unbelievers, but to
us it is salvation and life eternal. Where is the wise
man ? Where is he that disputeth ? Where is the
boasting of the so-called men of understanding? For
our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary accord-
ing to a Divine purpose,* of the seed of David, and yet
of the Holy Spirit ; Who was born and baptized, that
by His Passion He might purify water.^

the relation here conceived of between Christ and the Church is
that of the Head to the Body. The Body partakes of the fragrant
ointment which has been poured *upon the Head.' This inter-
pretation, which is suggested by Von der Go\X.z (Texte u, Unters.
xii. 3), accords with the interpretation of the incident given by
Origen, c. Cels. vi. 79.

^ 'The prince of this world* recalls the similar phrase in St»
John (xii. 31, xiv. 30, xvi. ii). The words for 'world,* however,
are difTerent. In Ignatius aie6v is found, in the Gospel K6ayM% is
used. The phraFe occurs again Eph. 19, Magn. i, Trail. 4,
Rom. 7, Philad. 6.

• Lit. ' my spirit is the offscouring of the Cross.' See note
on c. 8.

^ Suggested by i Cor. i. 23, 24. The following clause is a
reminiscence of the same chapter.

* Or ' dispensation ' (oiicovo/A^oi/), a word specially used of the
Incarnation. Cf. Eph. i. 10.

^ The thought of Ignatius appears to be that by His own baptism
our Lord set apart and appropriated water to the use of His Church
in the future for the Sacrament of Baptism. The virtue of baptism,
however, was derived from the cleansing power of the Cross com-
municated in the Sacrament. Hence the reference to the Passion.
Similarly the water of Baptism is connected with the Cross in
Barnabas 11.
D

50 THR EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

XIX. And from the prince of this world were hidden ^
Mary*s virginity and her child-bearing, in like manfter
too 2 the death of the Lord.' Three mysteries are these
for open proclamation, wrought in God's silence. How
then were they manifested to the ages ? A star * shone
forth in Heaven more brightly than all the stars, and
its light was greater than words can tell, and its strange
appearing caused perplexity. And all the other stars,^
with the sun and moon, formed themselves into a band
about the star. But the star itself surpassed them all
in its brightness. And there was distress to know
whence came this strange sight so unlike the other
stars. From that time all sorcery and every spell began

^ The idea that Satan was deceived by the mysterious silence
and reserve of God in the Incarnation is found in virriters of the
second, third, and fourth centuries. Thus Gregory of Nyssa
{Or. Cat. 26) says: 'He who first deceived man by the bait of
sensual pleasure, is himself deceived by the presentment of the
human form.*

* One of the two MSS. of the Curetonian Syrinc Version omits
all mention of the death, and dissociates * the three mysteries '
from what precedes. The words then run : ' the virginity of M.
and the birth of our Lord and the three mysteries of a cry.' But
it is difficult to see what * ihe three mysteries ' can mean, when
thus dissociated from the preceding words. The absence cf the
omitted clause in the quotation of this passage by Origen {Horn, in
Luc. vi.) is explained by the fact that he is quoting the passage
merely with reference to the Virgin-Birth.

* By * the death of the Lord ' here Ignatius means the atonement
brought about through the death. The fact was known to Satan ;
its significance escaped him. Cf. I Cor. ii. 7 sq.

* A later expansion, doubtless, of the incident described in
Matt. ii. I sq., but whether derived from oral tradition or a
written source we cannot tell. The only other passage where
Ignatius shows knowledge of a tradition other than that preserved
in our Gospels is in Smyrn. 3. In Clement of Alexandria, Exc.
7'heod. 74, the incident of the star is expanded in language which
may show acquaintance with this passage of Ignatius.

* The idea appears to have been suggested by Joseph's dream.
For similar legendary additions, see passages quoted by Lightfoot,
vol. ii. pp. 81, 82. How far this passage is intended as an actual
description it is difficult to say.

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 51

to lose their power ; ^ the ignorance of wickedness began
to vanish away ; the overthrow of the ancient dominion
was being brought to pass,^ since God was appearing
in human form unto newness of life eternal. That
which had been perfected in the mind of God was
coming into being. Hence all things were disturbed,
because the overthrow of death was being planned.

XX. If Jesus Christ permit me through your prayer,
and it be God's will, in my second treatise, which I am
about to write unto you,^ I will go on to set forth the
Divine plan, which I began to expound, with reference
to the new man,* Jesus Christ, consisting in faith in
Him and love toward Him, in His Passion and Resur-
rection, especially if the Lord make any ^ revelation to
me. Meet in common assembly in grace, every one of
you, man by man, in one faith and in one Jesus Christ,
Who is according to the flesh of the stock of David, the
Son of man and Son of God, so that you may obey
the bishop and the presbytery with a mind free from
distraction ; breaking one bread,® which is the medicine
of immortality, the antidote preserving us that we should ^ ^*r>i>o^.
not die but live for ever in Jesus Christ.

^ Magic and witchcraft were widely prevalent in the Empire
throughout the first four centuries. Cf. Acts xix. 19 for an account
of its prevalence at Ephesus. The emperor Hadrian, in a letter
written to Servianus about 134 a.d., says with reference to the
city of Alexandria: * There is no ruler of a synagogue there, no
Samaritan, no Christian presbyter, who is not an astrologer, a
soothsayer, a quack.' The idea that the power of witchcraft was
broken by the coming of Christ is commonly found in the Fathers.

2 Lightfoot's reading has been adopted.

^ There is nothing to show that this design was ever carried out,

* For the * new man/ cf. i Cor. xv. 45, 47. Lightfoot suggests
that Ignatius may have understood Eph. iv. 24 to refer to Christ.

'^ Zahn's emendation has been adopted.

• For the phrase, cf. Acts ii. 46, xx. 7, etc., i Cor. x. 16. The
reference is to the Eucharist, which is the bond of unity between
Christ and His members. See Smym. 8, Philad. 4. With the
following words cf. John vi. 53, 54.

"W^ **^^^-*'

52 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

XXI. I am devoted to you ^ and to those whom you
sent to Smyrna fo;: the honour of God. It is from
thence, moreover, that I am writing to you with thanks-
giving to the Lord, and with love for Polycarp as well
as for yourselves. Remember me, even as Jesus Christ
remembers you. Pray for the Church which is in
Syria, whence I am being led in bonds to Rome, though
I am the last among the faithful there; according as I
was deemed worthy to bo found destined for the honour
of God. Farewell in God the Father and in Jesus
Christ our common Hope.

^ Lit. * I am a sacrifice for yon.' The w< rd avri^vxoVi used
here, occurs again, Smyrn. lo, Polyc. 2, 6. It closely resembles
the word used in c. 8. But the prominent idea is simply * devotion
to, and love for, another. ' The word may be illustrated by another
word of similar formation, iVrf«|/i;xos, * like-minded,' which is found
not only in Phil. ii. 20, but also in the LXX version of Ps. liv. [Iv.]
14 (translated in the P.-B. V. * my compani(/n'). Others, however,
see in the phrase a fuller significance, * I give my life for you,' and
find in it an allusion to his coming martyrdom. Cf. for the idea
I John iii. 16. Athanasius [tie Inc. 9) uses the wprd of our Lord's
sacrifice.

II. THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS.

[Magnesia by the Mcxander was about fifteen Roman miles
south-east of Ephesus. The foundation of the Church there
probably dates from St. Paul's residence at Ephesus (Acts xix.
lo — 26). The Magnesian Christians, like the Ephesians, on hearing
of Ignatius' visit to Smyrna, had sent delegates to that city, in-
cluding representatives of all three orders of the ministry (c. 2).
Ignatius writes to acknowledge their interest in him. As in other
epistles, he urges the imporiance of unity and the duty of obedience
to the ministry, especially warning them against presuming upon
the youthfulness of their bishop (c. 3). In cc. 8 — 10 he deals \\ith
a form of Judaistic error, against which he warns them, without,
however, implying its actual existence at Magnesia (cf. cc. 11, 12,
14); There are incidental allusions to Doceiism (cc. 9, 11). See
further Add. Note i.]

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that has
been blessed by the grace of God the Father in Christ
Jesus our Saviour, in Whom I salute the Church which
is in Magnesia by the Maeander, and wish her in God
the Father and in Jesus Christ heartiest greeting.

I. When I learned that your godly love shows itself
in a most orderly demeanour,^ I rejoiced and resolved
to address myself to you in the faith of Jesus Christ.
For having been granted a title of the highest reverence,^
in my bonds which I wear I sing the praises of the
churches,^ and I pray that in them there may be union
of flesh and spirit,*, which belong to Jesus Christ, our

^ i. e. tl eir submission to authority.

* Probably the title of * a prisoner of Jesus Christ.' Cf. Eph.
iii. I, iv. I, Philem. I, 9.

* Cf. Eph. 4, Rom. 2. Here, as there, Ignatius 'compares
himself to some gay reveller ; his fetters are his holiday deco a-

tion.' — LlGHTFOOT.

* Cf. Rom. inscr. and below, c. 13. On Ignatius' conception
of the unity of the Church, see Introd. § 4. The source of the
Church's unity, as of its life, is Christ Himself. See below,
* union with Jesus and the Father.' Cf. Trail. 11.

53

54 THK EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS

continual Life, an union in both faith and love — for
there is nothing better than that — and, more than all,
union with Jesus and the Father. In Him we shall
endure all the malicious attacks of the prince of this
world, ^ and, escaping from them, shall attain unto God

n. Since therefore I have been permitted to see
you in the person of Damas, your godly bishop, and
the worthy presbyters, Bassus and ApoUonius, and
my fellow-servant, the deacon Zotion, of whom may I
have joy, because he is subject unto the bishop as unto
the grace of God, and to the presbytery as unto the law
of Jesus Christ — ^

II L And for yourselves, it is fitting that you too
should not treat lightly the youth of your bishop, but
considering the power of God the Father,^ pay him all
reverence. For in like manner I have perceived that
the holy presbyters have not presumed ui)on his
seemingly youthful state,* but yield place to him as to
one who is prudent ^ in God, or rather not to him, but
to the Father of Jesus Christ, even to Him Who is
Bishop of all men.^ So then for the honour of Him,

* Sec nolo Kpli. 17.

^ * 'The bishop is here regaided as the dispenser of blessings;
I the presbyters as the representatives and guardians of order.' —
i LmiiTFOOT. The sentence is unfinished.

' I. e. the authority bestowed on him by God.

* The words vtunpiK^v rd^iv have been variously translated.
The rendering given above follows Pearson and Lightfoot. Others,
seeing in the words an allusion to episcopacy as a newly created
institution, translate 'not recognizing the seemingly newly-created
office.' But, apart from the fact that the language of Ignatius lends
no countenance to the view that he regarded episcopacy as a new
institution, the words will not admit of this rendering. Zahn
renders * the ordination of a young man,' but this puts a strain on
the words. The IransLition above gives good sense. Damas
outwardly appeared youthful, but showed a wisdom beyond his
years.

^ The reading of the Armenian Version has been followed.

* Cf. Kom. 9, Polyc. inscr. See i Pet. ii. 25.

THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS 55

Who desired you, it is fitting that you should obey
without dissembling. For it is not that a man deceives
this visible bishop/ but rather that he tries to cheat
Him Who is invisible. And in such case it is not with
flesh that he has to do, but with God Who knows the
things that are in secret.

IV. So then it is fitting not only to be called, but
also to be Christians. Even as there are some who
have the name * bishop' always on their lips, and yet
in everything act apart from him. Now such seem to
me to be not men of a good conscience, seeing that
they gather not together in a valid way^ according to
command.

V. So then the things of this life have an end, and
there are set together before us the two issues of life
and death, and each man shall surely go to his own
place.^ For just as there are two coinages, the one of
God, the other of the world, and each one of them has
stamped upon it its own image, the unbelievers the
stamp of this world, and they that in love believe, the
image of God the Father through Jesus Christ,* through
Whom unless we are ready of our own accord to die
unto His Passion,^ His life is not in us — *

VI. Seeing therefore that in the persons already

^ A reference to the original meaning of the word, 'overseer.'
Cf. Rom. 9.

2 Cf. Smyrn. 8 note.

* Acts i. 25. Cf. Clement oj Rome^ c. 5, and Pol)C., Phil. 9.

* Cf. Heb. i. 3, where Christ is Himself the * impress ' of the
Father's 'essence.* This Divine image is stamped upon the
believer by his union with Christ.

* Lit. 'die into His Passion.' The Christian becomes identified
with Christ in His Passion, and dies with Him. Cf. the language
of St. Paul on baptism into Christ in Rom. vi. 4, Gal. iii. 27 ; also
Rom. vi. 5, Gal. ii. 20.

* The sentence is unfinished. The frequent occurrence of such
broken sentences is an indication of haste in the composition of
these letters.

56 THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS

mentioned I beheld in faith your whole number, and
have welcomed them, I urge you, be diligent to do all
things in godly concord, the bishop presiding after the
pattern ^ of God, and the presbyters after the pattern of
the council of the Apostles, with the deacons also who
are most dear to me, seeing they are entrusted with a
service under ^ Jesus Christ, Who before the ages was
with the Father, and appeared at the end.^ Therefore
seeking to conform yourselves to the ways of God,*
reverence one another, and let no man look upon his
neighbour after the flesh, but in Jesus Christ love one
another continually. Let there be nothing among you
which shall be able to divide you, but be^ united with
the bishop, and with them that have the rule over you
for a pattern and lesson of incorruption.

VIL As therefore the Lord did nothing without the

^ Reading rvvoy, which has the support of the Syriac and
Armenian Versions. The Greek text, Latin Version, and the
Longer Greek text read rSvoVj * in the place of.*

There are two types of authority to which Ignatius likens the
authority of the bishop, both being suggested by the memory of
the Lord's earthly ministry. (i) The bishop represents the
authority of the Father, to whom Christ, as Son of Man, during
His earthly life yielded obedience (cf. Tiall. 3, Smyrn. 8, and
present passnge). (2) The bishop represents the authority of
Christ over His Apostles (cf. Trail. 2). In Magn. 13 we find
both comparisons.

The presbyters are regularly compared to the Apostles. Cf.
. Trail. 2, 3 ; Smyrn. 8.

The deacons are also compared to Jesus Christ, but in His
relation as Son of Man to the Father. See present chapter and
Trail. 3 (note).

The word * council ' is suggested by primitive Church custom.
The bishop sat in the centre, with the presbyters forming a
'corona' about him (cf. c. 13). Cf. Trail. 3, Philad. 8. In ^f>p.
Const, ii. 28 the presbyters are called 'the council of the Church.'

* Or *a service in which Jesus Christ ministered.' (Cf. Matt.
XX. 28, Mark x. 45. Cf. Trail. 3 ) For the rendering given, cf.
2 Cor. xi. 23, I Tim. iv. 6.

3 Cf. Heb. i. 2.

* Cf. Polyc. I note.

THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS 57

Father ^ [being united with Him ^J, neither of Himself
nor by the Apostles, so neither do you act in anything
apart from the bishop and presbyters. Neither attempt
to persuade yourselves that anything is right which you
do of yourselves apart. But in common let there be
one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in
love, in joy that is without blame, which ^ is Jesus Christ
— for there is naught better than He. Gather yourselves
together, all of you, as unto one shrine, even God,* as
unto one altar, even One Jesus Christ, Who proceeded
from One Father,^ and is in One and returned to One.

VIII. Be not deceived by strange doctrines nor by
ancient fables,^ seeing that they are profitless. For if,
until now, we live after the rule of Judaism,' we confess

^ Cf. John viii. 28.

^ Cf. Smyrn. 3. Some authorities omit the words.

3 The relative refers to the whole clause. ' This perfect unity
is Jesus Christ.' — Lightfoot. In place of the relative, which
the Latin Version reads, the Greek text has 'there is one Jesus
Christ.'

^ The rendering given follows the text of Lightfoot, and adopts
his reading 0e(Jv, for ©cow of the Greek text and Latin Version ;
'one shrine, even God,' instead of 'one shrine of God.' With
this reading God is compared to the shrine, and Jesus Christ to
the altar-court, through which in the Jewish Temple access was
gained to the Holy Place and Holy of Holies. The idea is that
Christ is the means of access to the Father. The whole passage is
an appeal for unity, which can only come through being in Jesus
Christ, Who is Himself in the Father. For the word altar, cf.
Eph. 5, Trail. 7, Philad, 4. See also Heb. xiii. 10. For the
whole idea of the passage cf Heb. ix. 6 sq.

^ The reference is to His earthly mission. The language of lliis
passage recalls John i. 18, xiii. 3, xvi. 28.

* Cf I Tim. i. 4, iv. 7, 'lit. i. 14, iii. 9. In those passages, as
also in the present passage, the reference is probably to Rabbinic
fables and the allegorical interpretations of Jewish history. See
Hort (ludaisttc Christianity, p. 135 sq.). In the expressions of
this epistle and of that to the Philadelphians there is nothing which
necessarily points to a mixture of Gnosticism and Judaism as
Lightfoot supposes. See further Add. Note i.

■^ Cf. Gal. i. 13, ii. 14. By 'the rule of Judaism,' Ignatius
means the observance of Jewish rites.

6o THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS

to the new leaven,^ which is Jesus Christ. Be salted
in Him,^ that no one among you wax corrupt, for by
your savour you shall be proved. It is outrageous to
ulter the name of Jesus Christ and live in Judaism.
For Christianity believed not in Judaism, but Judaism
in Christianity, in which people of every tongue believed
and were gathered unto God.

XI. I write not this, my beloved, because I have
learned that some of you are in such evil case, but as
one who is less than you, I desire to put you on your
guard that you fall not into the snares of vain teaching,
but be fully convinced of^ the birth and passion and
resurrection, which came to pass in the time of the
government of Pontius Pilate * — events which truly and
certainly were brought to pass by Jesus Christ, our
Hope, from which Hope may none of you ever go
astray.

XII. May I have joy of you in all things, if I be
worthy. For even though I am a prisoner, I am
nothing in comparison with one of you who are free.
I know that you are not puffed up, for you have Jesus
Christ within yourselves.^ And I know that when I
praise you, you feel the greater shame, for it is written,
* The righteous man is his mun accuser^ ^

XIII. Be diligent therefore to be confirmed in the

^ Matt. xiii. t^^^ Luke xiii. 21.

* Matt. V. 13, Mark ix. 50, Luke xiv. 34. Cf. Lev. ii. 13.

* 'Ihis confession, couclied in an anti-Docetic form, may indicate
that Ignatius feared the danger of Docetism at Magnesia. Or
possibly he is thinking of the dangers threatening other churches,
and so gives an anticipatory warning to the Magnesians.

* The date of the Crucifixion is insetted here, as in the Creed,
in order to emphasize the historical truth of the fact, and connect
it with the general hist(;ry of the period. Tacitus, in his account
of the Christians, mentions Pilate {Ann, xv. 44).

* Cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

® Prov. xviii. 17. LXX. The Hebrew gives quite a different
sense.

THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS 6i

decrees 1 of the Lord and the Apostles, that in every-
thing which you do, you may be prospered^ in flesh
and spirit, by faith and love, in the Son and Father and
in the Spirit,^ in the beginning and in the end, along
with your bishop who is worthy of all honour, and the
fitly- woven spiritual coronal* of your presbytery, and
the deacons who are according to the mind of God.
Submit yourselves to the bishop and to one another, as
Jesus Christ [was subject] to the Father [after the flesh],
and the Apostles to Christ and the Father, that there
may be union both of flesh and spirit.^

XIV. Knowing that you are full of God, I have
exhorted you briefly. . Remember me in your prayers, ^^^
that I may attain unto God. Remember too the Church ^' ..^s <^
which is in Syria, whereof I am not worthy to be called

a member. For I have need of your united prayer in
God, and your love, that the Church in Syria may be
granted the refreshing dew of your fervent supplication.

XV. The Ephesians from Smyrna salute you, whence
also I am writing to you, for they have come hither for
God*s glory, even as yourselves. In every way they
have refreshed me, with Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna.
The rest of the churches, too, salute you in the honour
which is of Jesus Christ. Farewell in godly peace,
keeping a steadfast spirit, which ^ is Jesus Christ.

* The word for 'decrees' occurs in Acts xvi. 4.

* An allusion to Ps. i. 3. LXX.

' For the order, cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 13.

* See note on c. 6.

^ Cf. c. I (note), and see Introd. § 4.

^ The relative probal)ly refers to the whole clause and ihe idea
of concord prominent in it.

III. THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS

[Tralles was situated on the high-road which passes from
Ephesus through Magnesia and Laodicea to the East. It was
about seventeen or eighteen miles from Magnesia, which is ahnost
midway between Ephesus and Tralles. Like Magnesia, Tralles
probably owed its Christianity to the preaching of St. Paul's disciples.
The Trail ians had sent their bishop to meet Ignatius at Smyrna,
and he writes to thank them. He takes occasion to warn them
against false teaching and separatism, without, however, accusing
them personally of these errors. The main part of the epistle
(cc. 6 — ii) contains a strong protest against a Docctic error, of which
we see a more strongly- developed form in the heresy attacked in the
Epistle to the Smyrnaians. At the same time he urges upon them
the duty of outward unity and obedience to their Church officers,
as their best security against error. Of special interest in this
connection are cc. 3, 7. There is no mention of the Judaic error
condemned in the Epistle to the Magnesians.]

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that is
beloved by God, the Father of Jesus Christ, to the holy
Church which is at Tralles in Asia,^ elect and worthy
of God, having peace in flesh and spirit ^ through the
passion of Jesus Christ, Who is our hope through the
resurrection unto Him ; which Church I salute in the
fulness of God, after the Apostolic mahner,^ and bid
her heartiest greeting.

I. I have learned that you exhibit a mind which is
blameless and unwavering in patient endurance, not
from habit but naturally. For so your bishop, Polybius,

* i. e. the Roman province of Asia.

* The text is in some confusion, the Greek text and Armenian
Versions reading * blood ' for ' spirit.' Probably, however, the
longer Greek recension has preserved the correct reading, 'spirit.'
The Armenian version omits * through the passion.' This would
give the sense ' being at peace through faith in, and union with,
the flesh and spirit of Jesus Christ.'

' i. e, in the Apostolic epistles.

62

THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS 63

has informed me, who by the will of God and Jesus
Christ has been with me at Smyrna, and has so greatly
shared my joy in my bonds in Christ Jesus, that in
him I beheld your whole number. So then I welcomed
your godly kindness manifested through him, and gave
glory to God, when I found you to be, as I had learned,
followers of God.

II. For whenever you are subject to the bishop as
unto Jesus Christ, you appear to me to be living not
the ordinary life of men, but after the manner of the
life of Jesus Christ,^ Who died for our sakes, that
believing in His death you might escape death. It is
necessary therefore that you should act, as indeed you
do, in nothing without the bishop. But be subject also
to the presbytery,^ as unto the Apostles of Jesus Christ
our Hope. For if we live in Him we shall be found
[in Him].' Those, too, who are deacons of the mys-
teries* of Jesus Christ must in every way be pleasing
unto all. For they are not deacons of meats and
drinks,^ but are servants of the Church of God. So
then they must be on their guard against blame* as
against fire.

III. In like manner' let all reverence the deacons as

* Cf. Magn. 7. * On this comparison see note on Magn. 6.

* Lightfoot's reading lias been followed.

* This probably refers to their work as teachers, rather than to
their assistance at the Eucharist. St. Paul similarly uses * mystery *
in the sense of a revealed truth. (Cf. e.g. Rom. xvi. 25.) The
passage which follows treats of the duties of the deacon's offipe,
not of the respect which is due to him.

* The original duties of the deacon's office (Acts vi. 2) involved
a considerable amount of attention to mere external business, such
as the distribution of alms. Yet there was a higher aspect of th€
office, as from the first we find the deacons engaged in teaching
(cf. Acts viii.). It is this higher aspect which Ignatius emphasizes.

* Cf. I Tim. iii. 10.

' i. e. there must be mutual consideration. The deacon must
regard the people's wishes ; the people must respect the deacon's
office.

64 THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS

Jesus Christ,^ as also the bishop, [regarding him] as a
type of the Father,^ and the presbyters as the Council of
God and the band of the Apostles.^ Without these there
is no church deserving of the name.* Concerning these
matters I am persuaded that you are thus disposed.
For I have received, and still have with me, in the
person of your bishop, the pattern of your love. His
very demeanour is a striking lesson, and his gentleness is
power — a man whom I think even those who are with-
out God revere. It is for love of you that I thus refrain,
although I might have spoken of this with greater
urgency. But I thought not myself sufficient for this
task of enjoining you, condemned man that I am, as
though I were an apostle.

IV. I have many thoughts in God. But I keep
myself within bounds, that my boasting may not prove
my ruin. For now must I needs fear the more, and not
give heed unto them that are puffing me up. For they
who speak to me^ act as a scourge to me. For I
welcome suffering, yet I know not whether I am worthy.

* On this comparison cf. Miign. 6, note. Ignatius is thinking of
the relation to the Father of Jesus Christ as Son of Man, * Who
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister' (Matt. xx. 28).

* Cf. Magn. 6, note. The whole passage from 'deacons' to

* Father ' exhibits great variation of text. In the first clause the
Latin Version reads * as the commandment of Jesus Christ.' In
place of the word * type,' which is read by the Syriac version and
the longer Greek recension, the Greek text and Latin version read
*Son.'

' For the ideas which suggested this twofold comparison of the
presbyters, see Magn. 6, note. The word * council ' is suggested
by the arrangements of the churches in early times, while the word

* band ' is suggested by the earthly ministry of the Lord and His
Apostles.

* On the Ignatian conception of the ministry and the unity of
the Church, see Introd. § 4.

* Ignatius suppresses the flattering words which he fears may

* puflf him up.' It is possible, however, that some words may have
fallen out.

THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS 65

For the envy of Satan is not visible to the eyes of many,^
but it makes war on me [the more]. I desire therefore
gentleness, by which the prince of this world ^ is over-
thrown.

V. Am I not able to write unto you heavehly things ?
But I fear lest I may inflict harm upon you, since you
are babes.^ Indeed bear with me, lest being unable to
contain them, you be choked. For even though I am
in bonds and am able to understand * heavenly things
and the ordering of angels and the musterings of heavenly
rulers, things visible and invisible, yet am I not thereby
already a disciple. For we suffer lack of many things,
that we may not come short of God.

VI. I urge you therefore, yet not I, but the love of
Jesus Christ, use only Christian food, and abstain from
strange herbage,^ which is heresy. For they even
mingle poison ^ with Jesus Christ, imposing on men by
their false professions of honesty, giving as it were a
deadly drug along with honied wine, and he that is
ignorant of this fearlessly drinks in death with fatal
pleasure.

VII. Be on your guard then against such persons.
And this will be, if you are not puffed up, and if you
are inseparable from [God, even] Jesus Christ and the
bishop and the commandments ot the Apostles. "^ He

* i. e. those who were seeking to procure a respite. (Cf.
Rom. 7-)

* Cf. Kph. 17, note. * i Cor. iii. i, 2.

■* The interest in angelology was a characteristic of the Jews in
the apostolic and post-nposlolic ages. From them it spread lo
Judaizing Christians nnd to Christians generally. Cf. Eph. i, 20, 2r,
Col. i. 16, ii. 18. Cf. Smyrn. 6.

^ Cf. Kph. 10, Philad. 3.

* Tiie text is corrupt. The longer Greek recension suj-gesls
the emended reading which has been here translated. The
metaphor is that of a physician who infuses poison into his drug-,
and disguises them by giving to them a sweet flavour.

' In these last words Lightfoot sees a reference to the institution
£

66 THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS

that is within the precincts of the altar ^ is pure, he
that is without the precincts of the altar is not pure.
That is, he who acts in anything apart from the bishop
and the presbytery and the deacons is not pure in
conscience.

VIII. I write not this, because I have learned that
any such evil has happened among you, but I keep
guard over you beforehand, since you are my beloved,
and I foresee the snares of the devil. Take up then the
armour of gentleness and renew yourselves in faith,^
which is the flesh of the Lord, and in love, which is the
blood of Jesus Christ. Let no one among you have
aught against his neighbour. Give not occasion to the
heathen, that the godly multitude be not evil spoken of
on account of a few foolish men. For, * Woe ^ unto him
through whom My Name is idly blasphemed before some.^

IX. Stop your ears then when any one speaks unto
you apart from Jesus Christ, Who is of the race of

of the episcopate. An early tradition found in Clement of Alexan-
dria {Quis dives salvetur^ c. 42) and Teitullian {adv. Marc. iv. 5)
atiribuies the establishment of episcopacy in Asia Minor to St. John.
Irenncus (iii. 3, 4) says of Polycarp that he was appointed by apostles
as bishop of the Church in Smyrna, certainly meaning to include St.
John in the word * apostles.' See Lightfoot, Philipfians^ p. 212.

1 See ))ote Eph. 5. The figure is derived from the Jewish
tabernacle or temple. The man who cuts himself ofT from the
congregation of the faithful and the common sacrifices becomes as
a Gentile and outcast (Cf. Matt, xviii. 17). The congregation is
lieie represented as gatliered together under its proper officers.

* Faith is said to be the flesh of Christ, because it identifies itselt
with the incarnate Christ, and rests upon the facts of His outward
manifestation (cf. Philad. 5). Love is said to be the blood of
Christ, because Christ's death and sacrifice are the crowning
expression of love, and the life which results from them is a life of
love. Cf. Rom. 7« The words * flesh ' and * blood ' are doubtless
suggested by the Eucharist both here and in Philad. 5. There
is a someuhat similar mystical application of the words * flesh
and blood ' in Clement of Alexandria, Paed. i. 6.

' A free quotation of Isaiah Hi. 5. The words are quoted in the
same form in Polyc. , Phil. 10.

THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS 67

David, the child of Mary, Who was truly ^ born, and
ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate,
was truly crucified and died, before the eyes of those in
heaven and those on eai-th and those under the earth ; ^
Who also was truly raised from the dead, since His
Father raised Him up. Who in like manner will also
raise up us who believe on Him — even His Father wilJ
raise us in Christ Jesus, apart from Whom we have not
that life which is life indeed.

X. But if it be, as some godless men, that is,
un'>elievers, assert, that He suffered in semblance — it is
they who are semblance ^ — why am I in bonds ? Why
moreover do I pray that I may fight with the wild
beasts?* Then I die for naught. Then I lie against
the Lord.

XL Flee therefore those evil offshoots which bear
deadly fruit, whereof if a man taste, he straightway dies.
For these are not a planting of the Father.^ For if they
were, they would have been seen to be branches of the
Cross,^ and their fruit would have been incorruptible.

^ Docetism denied the reality of Christ's human life and
sufferings. To these heretics it seemed impossible to believe that
God could have come into such close contact with matter as was
involved in the Incarnation. Hence the outward, earthly manifes-
tation of Christ was explained away as an apparition. This
explains Ignatius' insistence on the reality of the birth, passion and
resurrection of the Lord. The word * truly ' is a watchword in this
connection: (See Add. Note I.)

2 Cf. Phil. ii. 10.

3 Cf. Smyrn. 2, 4.

■* Cf. I Cor. XV. 32. The whole passage is modelled on St.
Paul's words.

* Cf Matt. XV. 13.

• For the metaphor, cf. Smyrn. i. * The symbolism of the tree
of life planted in Paradise, as referring to the Cross of Cijrist, dates
from a very early time.' — Lightfoot. The language of Rev. xxii.
I, 2, would render the application easy. The fine hymn, attributed
to Venantius Fortunatus, * Pange lingua gloriosi,' exhibits the same
imagery, and contains an allusion to the tradition that the tree from

68 THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS

For through His Cross by His Passion He calls us unto
Him, being His members. Jt is not possible then that
a head should be born without members/ since God
promises union, which union is Himself.

Xn. I salute you from Smyrna, together with the
Churches of God now present ^ with me, men who have
refreshed me in every way both in flesh and spirit. My
bonds exhort you, which I wear for Jesus Christ's sake,
asking that I may attain unto God. Abide in your
concord and in your prayer with one another. For it
is meet that you should severally, and especially the
presbyters, refresh the bishop to the honour of the Father
and [to the honour] of Jesus Christ and the Apostles.
I pray that you may give heed to me in love, lest by
having written unto you I become a testimony against
you. Moreover, pray for me too, for I have need of
your love in the mercy of God, that I may be deemed
worthy of the lot which I eagerly press on ^ to attain,
that I be not found reprobate.

Xni. The love of the Smyrnseans and the Ephesians
salutes you. Remember in your prayers the Church in

which the Cross was taken sprang from the seed of the Tree of
Life.

De parentis protoplast!

Frautle facta condolens,

Quando ponii noxialis

Morsu in mortem corruit,

Ipse lignum tunc notavit

Damna ligni ut solveret.

^ The denial of the Passion by these heretics cut them off from
Christ and from the Divine ideal of unity appointed by God through
the Cross. Ignatius is full of the thought and language of St. Taui,
and especially of the Epistle to the Ephesians. (Cf. also John xvii.
21—23.)

2 i. c. present in the persons of their representatives. (Cf.
Eph. I, Magn. 2.)

•The rendering given follows the text of Lightfoot, who adopts
Hunsen's emendation, reading ^yKcifiai for irfpiKei/jiai. With the
latter reading the meaning is, * to obtain the lot with which I am
invested.*

THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS 69

. Syria, whereof I am not worthy to be called a member,
^ since I am the very last of them. Farewell in Jesus

Christ, submitting to the bishop as unto the command-
ment,^ likewise also to the presbytery, and severally love
one another with an undivided heart. My spirit devotes
itself for you,^ not only now but also whenever I attain
unto God. For I am still in danger.^ But the Father
is faithful in Jesus Christ to fulfil my petition and yours.
In Him may we be found blameless.

^ Used absolutely for God*s commandment. They are to obey
the bishop as they are to obey God.

« Cf. Epl). 8, note.

' He still fears that his own weakness, or the efforts of others to
procure his respite, may rob h'm of the martyr's crown.

IV. THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

{.This epistle was one of the four letters written from Smyrna.
It bears the date August 24lh. While the other letters were called
forth by the dangers and heresies which threatened the life of the
Churches addressed, this deals with a personal matter, his own
impending martyrdom. Of heresy we hear nothing. His favourite
topic, Church order, is hot once mentioned. Certain members of
the Syrian Church had preceded Ignatius to Rome with news
of his coming martyrdom. He fears that the influential Church
in that city may intercede for hian, and, by procuring some com-
mutation of his sentence, rob him of the crown of martyrdom.
He earnestly deprecates their interference, and expresses his own
passionate desire for a martyr's death. ' On account of this strong
personal interest the letter was more popular, and is quoted earlier,
than any of the others. It became, in Lightfoot's words, a 'sort
of martyr's manual,' and influenced largely the language and ideas
of several of the early stories of martyrdom. The epistle was in-
corporated in the Antiochene Acts of the mart) rdom and so became
dissociated from the other letters in its transmission, being preserved
in a separate set of manuscripts and translated separately. The
only extant Greek manuscript which coniains the epistle is the
Colbertine MS. of the tenth century in the National Library at
Palis, the ejistle being incorporated in the Acts of the martyrdom.]

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that has
found mercy in the bounteous power ^ of the Father
most High and Jesus Christ, His only Son, to the
Church that is beloved and illuminated by the will of
Him that willed all things which exist, in faith and love
towards Jesus Christ our God ; to her that has the chief
place in the district of the region of the Romans,^ being

^ For the word used here cf. Luke ix. 43, A. V., 'the mighty
power of God.* It denotes an exhibition of God's po\yer which
rev*;als His goodness and bounty.

^ These words describe merely the area over which the Roman
Church exercised supervision. Cf. Tertullian, de Prcoscr. 36 : * Go
through the Apostolic churches, in which the very seats of the
Apostles, at this very day, preside over their own places.' Others,
however, have urged that Ignatius is here maintaining the absolute

70

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 71

worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of congratu-
lation, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy in
purity, and holding the chief place in love,^ following
the law of Christ, bearing the Father's name ; which
Church also I salute in the name of Jesus Christ, Son
of the Father; to them that are united in flesh and
spirit with every one of His commandments, being
wholly filled with the grace of God, without wavering,
and strained clear from every foreign dye,^ warmest
greeting in Jesus Christ our God without blame.

I. My prayer to God has been heard, and I have
been permitted to see your holy faces, so that I have
gained even more than 1 was asking.^ For in bonds
in Christ Jesus I hope to salute you, if it be God's will
that I should be accounted worthy to reach the end.*
For the beginning is well ordained if 1 may attain the

supremacy of the Roman Church among the churches of the world,
as thou|»h he said, *To her that, being situate in the district of
the region of the Komans, has the chief place [among churches].*
I Jut, as Light foot urges in that case it is difficult to see why
Ignatius did not write merely *in Rome,' whtn describing the
locality of ihe church. The text of the passage, however, is not
above suspicion, and it has recently been suggested (Phillimore,
lotirn. of I'heol. Sludies^ xix. (1918), p. 276) that Xpiarov should
be read for x^P^^^- ^^e passage then runs ' to her that presides
over the Romans in the place of Christ.' Cf. Magn. 6, where the
Greek text and Latin version read r6irov for rvnov, * the bishop
presiding in the place of God.' Cf. also Eph. 3, Smyrn. 8.

* As the Church of Rome had the supremacy of rank among the
clunches in the regitm around it, so loo was it foremost among
them in works of love. Dionysius of Corinth (c. a.d. 175) testifies
to the world-wide charity of the Roman' Church (Euseb. //. £.
iv. 23).

2 The 'foreign dye' is the colouring-matter which pollutes the
purity of a stream. The Church had been kept pure from grave
errors of doctrine and life. For the metaphor cf. Philad. 3.

^ He had aske i that he might visit Rome. His prayer had
been granted, with the further favour that he was privileged to
visit it as a prisoner of Jesus Christ, soon to be glorified by a
martvr's death.

* That is, the goal of his ambition, martyrdom.

72 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

end and so receive my inheritance without hindrance.
For 1 fear lest your very love should do me wrong.
For you may easily do what you will.^ But for me it
is difficult to attain unto God, unless you spare me.

n. For I would not that you should please men,
but that you should please God,^ as indeed you do.
For I shall never have such an opportunity of attaining
unto God, nor can you, if you keep silent, be credited ^
with a nobler deed. For if you keep silent and spare
me, I am a word of God, but if you crave for my flesh,
I shall again be a mere voice.* [Nay] give me nothing

^ Christinnify had alrea'ly found ils way into the higher ranks
of Roman society. In the reign of Domitian (95 A. d. ) ihe consul,
Flavius Clemens, a cousin of ihe Emperor, liad been executed, and
his wife banished on a charge which has been proved lo have arisen
from their profession of Christianity. Ignatius is afraid that in-
fluence in hifc^h quarters vill result in his respite. Lucian the
heathen satirist, who wiote about 165 A. D., describes the efforts
made by the Christians to procure the release of tlieir imprisoned
brethren {De morte reregiini^ c. 12).

2 Cf. I Thess. ii. 4. ,

' * lie credited,' liteially, *have your name attached to.* An
allus'on probably, as Zahn suggests, to the practice of craftsmen,
who inscribe their names on the work they have completed. The
idea of Ignatius is that his martyrdom will be a great achievement,
in which they will have their part by restraining their desire to
intercede for him.

* There is a distinction here between \6'yos, * a word,' expn ssing
the intelligible utterance of a rational being, and ^wj/^, which
denotes a mere ii rational cry. Both words occur in the opening
chapter c>f St. John's Gospel, Xir^os^ * the Word,' b.ing used ol
the Eternal Son of God, as Revcaler of the Father, while St. Ji>hn
the Baptist describes himself as (pavfi, 'a mere voice of one crying,'
t. e. a mere impersonal instrument. See John i. i, 14, 23 Thus
the thought of Ignatius Is, * My death will render my life intelligible
as a living message to man from God, whereas, if I am spared, my
life will l)e as destitute of meaning as the cry of an irrational
animal. '

The text of the passage, however, shows considerable variation,
probably due lo alteration through failure to see the above dis-
tinction. The Greek text and the Armenian version read instead
of <^wj/^ the word rpexw^, which IJghtfoot understands to mean
that Ignatius * would be put back again to run the race.' Similarly
the word \&yos has been changed to ytv^crofiat (' I shall belong to

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 73

more than that I may be poured out as a libation to
Ciod,^ while yet there is an altar ready, that forming
a choir in love you may sing to the Father in Jesus
Christ, because God has granted that the bishoj) from
Syria ^ should be found in the West, having summoned
him from the East. Good it is for my sun to set from
the world unto God, that it may rise unto Him.^

HI. You have never grudged * any man. Others you
have instructed.^ But I would that those lessons, which
you enjoin in your teaching, may endure.® Only ask
that I may find power within and without, that I may
not only say it, but may desire it, that I may not only

Ciud,' instead of, ' I shall be a word of God ' probably because of
ihe seeming irreverence in attributing the title, * word of God,' to
any one but our Lord.

^ The * libation,' the 'altar,' and the * choir,' are suggested by
ihe ritual of a iieathen sacrifice. For a similar metaphor cf Eph. 9.

2 The genitive 2vp(as is probably here equivalent to little more
than an adjective, 'tiie Syrian bishop,' or * the bishop from Syria.'
It must not be understood to imply jurisdiction over the whole of
Syria, as though it were the equivalent of Trjs 4v IZvpicf, iKKKriaiaSj
* bishop of the church which is in Syri.n.' The organization of
large dioceses was of later growth, and followed the lines of Roman
imperial administration. Tlie bishop of the second and third
centuries resembled, so far as the extent of his administration went,
the rector of a town*parish in modern times. See Introd. p. 34 note.

' Ignatius plays on the words bvffiSj * West,' lit. 'setting of the
sun,' and avaroK-fj, * East,' lit. * rising of the sun.'

•* i$a<rK<iyar€j lit. 'envied.' The word is found in Gal. iii. I,
and means literally 'to bewitch,' with special reference to the
j)()wer of the evil eye. The derived notion of 'envy ' follows from
this use. Ignatius means * You have never grudged any one the
honour of martyrdom.'

^ Probably a reference to the encouragement and exhortations
given to previous martyrs by the Roman Christians. The par-
ticular form, however, of the following sentence rather favours the
view that Ignatius is referring to some definite, written charge
upon the subject, such as is found in the letter of Clement of Rome
to the Corinthians, which contains exhortations to follow the
example of the martyrs.

® Ignatius expresses the hope that they will not depart, in his
own case, from, the principles of the teaching which they have
given to others on the subject of martyrdom.

74 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

be called but be found a Christian. For if I be found a
Christian, then can I also receive the name ; then too
can I be faithful when I am not visible to the world.
Nothing that is visible is good.^ For our God, Jesus
Christ, is the more clearly visible now that He is in
the Father. 2 The Work is not of persuasive eloquence,^
but Christianity is a thing of might whenever it is hated
by the world.

IV. I write unto all the churches, and charge them all
to know that I die willingly for God, if you hinder not.
I intreat you, do not unseasonably befriend me. Suffer
me to belong to the wild beasts, through whom I may
attain unto God. I am God's grain, and I am ground
by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure
bread.* Rather entice the wild beasts to become my
tomb, and to leave naught of my body, that I may not,
when I have fallen asleep, prove a burden to any man.^

^ * Visible,* e.g. material and transient. Cf. 2 Cor. iv. i8.
Ignatius is speaking of the material world as it exists apart from
God. On his general view of the relations of * spirit ' and * matter,'
see Introd. § 4.

* A paradox. Christ's true power, manifested in the life of the
Church, is more clearly seen now that He has passed out of the
sight of human eyes, than it was when in His earthly life He was
subject to the malice and misunderstanding of men.

3 Cf. Eph. 14. *The Work' is the Gospel. Chiisiianity is
not a matter of words but of deeds. Cf. the old motto *taire et
faire.*

* Some MSS. add, after * bread,' ihe words * of Christ,' while
others have * of God,' and others omit both. The figure in this
passage is suggested by the sacrificial loaves which were ofiercd
both among Jews and Gentiles. Lightfoot would see a more
definite reference to the Pentecostal loaves (Lev. xxiii. 17). The
* pure ' bread is that which was made of the finest flour. Ignatius
is the grain which is ground by the teeth of the beasts and fitted for
an offering to God.

* He is thinking of the difficulties likely to attend his burial.
The spurious Acts of the martyrdom vary in their account of the
treatment of his reliques. The Antiochi ne Acts narrate (c. 6) that
only the tougher parts of his reliques were left, and that these were
carried back to Antioch and laid in a sarcophagus. The Roman

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 75

Then shall I truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when
the world shall not see even my body. Intreat the
Lord for me, that by these instruments ^ I may be found
a sacrifice unto God. I do not enjoin you in the manner
of Peter and Paul.^ They were Apostles, I am a con-
demned man. They were free, I, until this moment, am
a slave. But if I suffer, I am Jesus Christ's freedman,^
and in Him I shall arise free. Now in my bonds I am
learning to give up all desires.

V. From Syria unto Rome I am fighting with wild
beasts * by land and sea, by night and day, bound to

Acts state that the beasts only crushed him lo death, without
touching his flesh, * that his reliques might he a pro'ection to the
great city of the Romans' (c. 10). On the later history of his
reliques see Introd. § 3.
^ That is, the wild beasts.

* Both these Apostles had been connected with the Roman
Church. Their names also appear in conjunction in the letter
written by Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, c. 5. St. Peter's
residence at Rome, with his martyrdom there, rests on too strong
evidence to be rejected. It is explicitly mentioned by a succession
of Chiislian writers in the latter half of the second century, i.e. by
Dionysius of Corinth, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexan-
dria. The * Church in Babylon 'in i Pet. v. 13 is now generally
understood to refer to Rome. Finally, the Roman presbyter Gains
tells us that in his day {area 2CO a.d. ) the tombs of the two
Apostles were to be seen on the Vatican and Ostian Ways. On
the other hand the evidence for their martyrdom at the same time
is slender, being derived from the statement of Dionysius of Corinth,
who wrote in the second half of the second century (c. 175 a.d.),
and was not intimately connected with the Roman Church. Accord-
ingly some recent scholars have rejected his statement and incline
to the view that St. Peter was the survivor of St. Paul. This
would help to account for the greater prominence of his name in
later days in the memory of the Roman Church. See Ramsay, CA.
in A*. J?., p. 279 flf. ; Sanday, Expositor^ IV. vii. p. 411 f. ;
Swete, St. Mark, p. xvii f.

* I Cor. vii. 22..

^ Oripio/xaxa. Based on I Cor. xv. 32, where it is use«l meta-
phorically of human opponents. Here the usage is similar, but also
looks forward to the literal fulfdment of the words in his coming
death.

76 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

ten leopards,^ that is, a company of soldiers,^ whose
usage grows still harsher when they are hberally treated.^
Yet through their unjust doings I am more truly learn-
ing discipleship. Yet am I not hereby justified.^ May
I have joy of the beasts that are prepared for me. I
pray too that they may prove expeditious with me. I
will even entice them to devour me expeditiously, and
not to refrain, as they have refrained from some,^ through
fear. And even though they are not willing without
constraint,^ I will compel them. Pardon me. I know
what is expedient for me. Now I am beginning to be a
disciple. May naught of things visible or invisible seek
to allure' me; that 1 may attain unto Jesus Christ.

^ It has been urged that the use of this word is an anachronism
and a proof that this letter is not genuine, the word not being found
in any writer of the second century. Lightfoot, however, refers to
its use in a rescript of the Emperors Marcus and Commodus (a.u.
177-180), and a still earlier use by Galen about half a century after
the time of Ignatius. The word is probably of Roman origin, and
Lightfoot shows that it was already in process of formation in the
time of Pliny some thirty or forty years before this time. Syrian
leopards are mentioned by Vopiscus as having been exhibited by
the Emperor Probus. See Lightfoot in loco.

* His escort consisted of ten soldiers, who relieved one another in
tuin. Like St. Paul (Acts xxviii. 16, 20), Ignatius was attached
by a * coupling-chain ' to a guard by night and day.

' This probably refers to the sums of money given to the soldiers
by f) lends of Ignatius to procure for him better treatment. This
common Christian practice is alluded to in Lucian's famous satire
on the Christians, De Morte Peregritti, c. 12.

^ I Cor. iv. 4.

^ Cf. Euseb. H. E. viii. 7, where similar instances arc cited in
the case of the Egyptian martyrs. Similar incidents are recorded of
the martyrs of Vienne in 177 a.d. (Euseb. H. E. v. i). In the
present passage Ramsay, following Zahn, thinks that there is a
reference to- the story of-ThecIa as contained in a first-century
document on which he supposes the Acts of Paul and Thecla to be
based {Ch. in R. Emp. pp. 381, 404).

® Lightfoot, however, translates * to devour me, though I am
ready.'

■^ fi7A<tf(70i. Cf. Gal. iv. 17 ; 2 Cor. xi. 2. In both those passages,
and probably in the present passage, there is the idea of a'^siduous
attention. Lightfoot, however, understands the word to mean
* envy.'

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 77

Come fire and cross and conflicts with wild beasts.^
wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of the
whole body ; come grievous torments of the devil upon
me, — only may they aid me in attaining unto Jesus
Christ.

VI. The furthest bounds of the universe, and the
kingdoms of this world shall profit me nothing. It is
better for me to die for the sake of Jesus Christ than to
reign over the boundaries of the earth. Him I seek
Who died for us. Him I desire, Who rose [for our sakes].
My travail-pains are upon me.^ Forgive me, brethren.
Hinder me not from entering into Hfe : desire not my
death. Bestow not upon the world him who desires to
be God's ; nor tempt me with the things of this life.
Suffer me to receive pure light. When I come thither
then shall I be a man indeed. Suffer me to be an
imitator of the passion of my God. If any man has
Him dwelling in him, let him understand what I
desire, and have fellow-feeling with me, knowing what
constrains me.

VII. The prince of this world ^ desires to make me
his spoil ^ and corrupt my purpose, towards God. Let
none of you then who are at hand assist him. Rather
be on my side, that is, belong to God. Use not the
words * Jesus Christ ' and yet desire the world. Let
not envy make its dwelling within you. Even though
I should come and intreat you, hearken not even to me,
but rather trust these words which I write unto you.
For I write unto you in the midst of life, enamoured

* The Greek text and the Armenian Version in the Marty rology
add here * gashes and rendings.'

^ Ignatius represents both mother and child. The pains are the
agonies of marly I dom, which result in the birth of the new Ignatius,
born into the higher life.

^ Cf. Eph. 17 note.

^ Cf. Mark iii. 27.

78 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

of death. My Love ^ has been crucified, and there is
not within me any fire of earthly desire,^ but only water
that lives ^ and speaks in me,^ and says from within
me, *Come hither to the Father/ I have no pleasure
in the food of corruption nor in the pleasures of this
material life. I desire God's bread,^ which is the flesh
of Christ, Who is of the seed of David,* and for drink
I desire His blood, which is love incorruptible.'

1 ^p«$. This woid has been understood in two widely different
senses —

{a) Zahn and Lightfoot understand it to mean Move' in the
lower sense of * lust,' * passion.' According to this view Ignatius
declares that he has crucified the carnal pa<;sions of his nature. In
the only two passages of the LXX where the word occurs, it bears
this sense. See Prov. vii. i8, xxx. i6. It does not occur in the
N. T., which uses aydirri to denote *love.'

(^) An interpretation which has been current since the time of
Origen's Cofumentary on the Song of Songs, refers <£pu>s objectivfly
to Christ. * My Love has been crucified.' And so the words were
commonly understood by later writers. This interpretation is
rejected by Zahn and Lightfoot, but it has found a fresh defender
in Dr. C. Bigg {Bampton Lectures, p. viii f.). lie shows fairly
conclusively that ^pws and its cognates may be used in a higher
sense, and also that epo^j may be used of the object of love. This
sense agrees too with the context. Ignatius is *in love' with
death, * because Christ, his Beloved, is crucified, and perfect union
with Him will be attained by death.' His love for Christ draws
him away froqj material things. On the whole this interpretation,
perhaps, suits best the highly imaginative fervour of the passage.

* Reading with Zahn and Lightfoot <^ik6vKov = ' loving matter,'
* carnal.'

* The phrase * living water' recalls John iv. lo, ii. For its
use in connection with the Spirit, see John vii. 38-39.

* The words xal \a\ovv (* water . . . that speakelh ') are prob-
ably corrupt. If retained they must be held to refer to the
prophetic power said to be imjiarted by certain springs to those
who drank them. Lightfoot thinks that the longer Greek recensicm
has here preserved the true text, aA\(J/i6i/ov for koI \a\ovv. This
would present a further parallel to St. John's Gospel (iv. 14), and
the passage would run, * water that lives and springs up.*

* Cf. John vi. 33, and the section John vi. 48-59.

^ Cf. Kph. 18. Ignatius may have the Docetic teachers in mind.
Only if Christ has become truly incarnate, is it possible for our
manhood to be united with God.

' See note on Trail. 8. The parallelism of that passage suggests

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 79

Vni. I desire no longer to live the common life of
men. And this will be granted, if it is your desire.
Desire it, that you too may be desired. In a short
letter I entreat you. Believe me, Jesus Christ shall
make this clear to you, that I speak truly — even He
Who is the Mouth which cannot speak falsely, whereby
the Father spake [truly]. Intreat for me, that I may
attain in the Holy Spirit. I write not unto you after
the flesh, but after the mind of God. If I suffer, it is
because you desired it. If I be rejected, it is because
of your hatred.

IX. Remember in your prayer ^ tl.e Church in Syria, ^
since it hath God as its shepherd ^ in nSy room. Jesus
Christ alone shall be its bishop^ — together with your
love. But as for me, I am ashamed to be spoken of

as one of them. Nor indeed am I worthy, since I am
the last of them and one born out of due time ; * but
I have received mercy that I should be some one, if
haply I may attain unto God. My spirit salutes you,
as also does the love of the churches which received
me in the name of Jesus Christ, not as one that merely
passed by, for even the churches which lay not^ natur-
ally near to my route went before me from city to city.^

X. I write this unto you from Smyrna by the hand
of the Ephesians' who are worthy of congratulation.

that the clause 'which is love incorruptible' refers to * His Blood.'
Then love is regarded as the means of union with the incarnate
Chiist, or, better still, as the fruit and issue of that union. Zahn,
however, refers the words to the whole preceding sentence. * The
participation in the flesh and blood of Christ is love incorruptible.'
He sees in it a reference to the Agape or Love-Feast.

^ Cr. Ej.h. 21. 2 Qf I p^^^t ii 25, V. 2.

* Cl. Polyc. inscr.

* Suggested by I Cor. xv. 8 sq. See Introd. § 3.

* The shorter Syriac version omits the negative.

* That is, to prepare his welcome.

' So Lightfoot. But it is possible that here, as in Fhihid. 11,
Smyrn. 12, the preposition used (Sid) refers to the bearer rather

H

8o THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

There is with me also, along with many others, Crocus,
a name dear to me. Concerning those who went before
me from Syria to Rome unto the glory of God I believe
that you have received full tidings. Inform them also
of my approach. For they are all worthy of God and
of you, and it is fitting that you should in every way
refresh them. I am writing this to you on the Qlh day
before the Kalends of September. Farewell unto the
end in patient abiding for Jesus Christ.

than to the scribe of the epistle. Cf. Polyearp, Phil. 14, and
I Pet. V. 12, in the former of which the hearer seems referred to.

V. THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILA-

DELPHIANS.

[Philadelphia, a city of Lydia, lay upon the great road which
connected Northern Phrygia and Galatia with Sardis and touched
the -/EgKan at Smyrna. It does not appear to have attained any
great importance, but from the number of its temples and festivals
it received the name of * little Athens.' This shows that it was
a stronghold of the ancient religion. The first mention of the
Christian Church there is in Rev. iii. 7-13. It probably dates
from the stay of St. Paul at Ephesus (see Acts xix.). Already in
Rev. iii. 9 the mention of the Jews occupies an important place,
and there are traces of Judaistic error. But the Church as a whole
receives high commendation (Rev. iii. 8, 10). In aifter days the
city won great renown for its long resistance to the Turks, but it
finally capitulated in 1390 A. i). The present city, Ala-Shehr, con-
tains a considerable Christian population under a resident Greek
bishop.

Ignatius had passed through Philadelphia (cc. i, 6, 7) and Smyrna
on his way to Troas. Accordingly, whereas in writing to the
Ephesians, Trallians, and Magnesians, he warns them generally
against heresy, without directly charging them with it, in the
present epistle he is dealing with the dangers actually existing in
a Church with which he is personally acquainted.

The heresy which he attacks is plainly Judaistic (cc. 6, 8, 9),
of a strongly developed character. The false teachers had organized
themselves apparently into a schism (cc. 3, 7). The traces of
Docetism are only incidental (see inscr. and cc. 3, 8). They are
not sufficient to justify the view that the heresy was current at
Philadelphia (see Add. Note i). Nor is it necessary with Ilarnack
{Expository March 1886, and Chronologic^ pp. 389 «., 393 «.) to
see in cc. 8, 9 traces of a third tendency. The passages most
naturally refer to the Judaistic teachers. See notes.

This epistle was one of the three epistles written from Troas.
Ignatius had been joined at that place by two friends, who had
followed his route, and had stayed at Philadelphia. There they
had been welcomed by the Church as a whole, but had in some
way been slighted, probably by the heretical party, who also
appear to have brought false charges against Ignatius (see cc. 6,
11). These incidents called forth the present letter.]

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to the Church
of God the Father and Jesus Christ which is at
F 81

82 EPISTLE TO THE PHII.ADELPHIANS

Philadelphia in Asia,^ to her who has received mercy
and is established in godly concord and rejoices in the
passion ^ of our Lord and in His resurrection without
wavering, being fully persuaded in all mercy ; her I
salute in the blood of Jesus Christ ; seeing that it is
eternal and enduring joy, especially if they be at one
with the bishop and with the presbyters who are with
him, and with the deacons appointed according to the
mind^ of Jesus Christ; whom of His own will He
established, confirming them by His Holy Spirit.

L For I perceived that this bishop of yours did not
owe to himself or to the agency of men ^ his ministry,
which pertains to the common good, ndr does he hold it
with vain glory, but in the love of God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. For I have been amazed at his
forbearance ; who by his silence effects more than those
who speak. For he is tuned in harmony^ with the
commandments as a lyre with its strings. Therefore my
soul blesses his godly purpose, perceiving that it is
virtuous and perfect, even his unruffled and quiet spirit,
since he lives in all godly forbearance.®

n. As children therefore of truth flee division and
false doctrines, and where the shepherd is there follow as

^ i. e. in the Roman province of Asia. According to local
divisions Philadelphia was in Lydia.

* Ignatius is continually dwelling on the Passion of Christ. It
is possible that here, as L'ghtfoot suggests, his language is influ-
enced by the remembrance of the Docetic denial of the Passion.

'* The appointment of these deacons by the Church and its
officers had been confirmed by the gift of the Holy Spirit, convey-
ing to them the sanction of Christ Himself.

■* An echo of Gal. i. i.

^ The metaphor here is confused and difficult. Unless the text
is corrupt, and we read in the last part of the sentence, * as the
strings with the lyre,' we must attribute the expression to the
extreme haste of composition, which this epistle exhibits also in
other parts.

• 1 he words may also mean, * in all forbearance inspired by a
living God.'

EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 83

sheep. For there are many wolves ^ who by specious
professions lead captive with fatal pleasures the runners
in God's course ; ^ but while you continue in unity these
shall have no place. ^

III. Abstain from evil herbs,^ whose husbandman* is
not Jesus Christ, because they are not the planting of
the Father.^ I say not this because I found division
among you but rather sifting.® For as many as kre of
God and Jesus Christ, these are with the bishop. And
as many as repent and enter the unity of the Church,
they also shall belong to God, that they may be living
according to Jesus Christ. Be not deceived, my
brethren. If any one follow a man that causes schism,
he does not inherit God's kingdom. If any man walks
in strange opinions, he has no part in the passion.

IV. Therefore give heed to keep one Eucharist.^
For there is one flesh ® of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one
cup unto union with His blood. There is one altar,® as

^ Tliis recalls Matt. vii. 15. Cf. John x. 12, Acts xx. 2).
^ The favourite Pauline metaphor. Cf. Gal. v. 7, i Cor. ix.
24 sq.

' Cf. Trail. 6. * Cf. John xv. i, i Cor. iii. 9.
^ Cf. Matt. XV. 13, and see Trail, ii.

• The Philadelphians had separated themselves from these heretics.
Hence Ignatius will not use the word * division,' whicli might imply
censure, but uses instead, * sifting,' literally * filtering.' Cf. Kom
inscr.

■^ Cf. Smyrn. 8. With the exception of the reference in the
Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles^ c. 9, these pas-^ages of Ignatius
are the earliest certain instances of the name * Eucharist ' applied
to the Holy Communion. In Clement of Rome, c. 41, however,
the verb evxapiare'iVj * to give thanks,' is used of the public service
of the Church, and prol ably refers to the Eucharist.

^ Cf. I Cor. X. 16, 17, which probably suggested this lanj^uage.

• Ovffiaar'fipioif. Sec Magn. 7 (note). As we have seen, in that
passage the word means probably * the court of the altar,' a sense
which it plainly bears in Eph. 5 and Trail. 7. The idea was
sugi^istcd by the arrangements of tiie Jewish tabernacle and temple.
This may be the sense in Rev. xi. i, as it is in Clement of Rome,
c. 41. The common idea underlying all these passages is * a place of
sacrifice,' or * a sanctuary.' In the present passage the * sanctuary '

84 EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS

there is one bishop, together with the presbytery and
deacons, my fellow-servants; that whatsoever you do,
you may do according unto God.

V. My brethren, my soul is wholly poured out in love
for you. And because I rejoice exceedingly, I put you
on your guard, yet not I, but Jesus Christ, whose prisoner
I am : and therefore I fear the more, since I am not yet
perfected. But your prayer unto God shall perfect me,
that I may attain unto that lot,^ in which I have obtained
mercy, because 1 took refuge in the Gospel as the flesh ^
of Jesus, and the Apostles^ as the presbytery of the

is the Christian assembly gathered round tlie Eucharist, and
forming the counteipart of the congregation of Israel. There is no
certain and undisputed instance of the use of the word * altar' to
denote the Holy Table before Irenaeus (iv. i8. 6). * The idea of the
whole transaction of the Supper as a saciifice is plainly found in
the Didache {c. 14), in Ignatius, and, above all, in Justin (i. 65 f.).'
— IJarnack {Hist, of Dogma^ Eng. tr. I. 209). The passage from
the Didache (or Dochine of the Iwelve Apostles) urges that the
celebration of the Eucharist should begin with a confession of sin,
Mhat our sacrifice may be pure.' Alike in the Didache and in
Justin Martyr we find the prophecy Malachi i. 11 quoted and
applied to the Eucharist. Similarly Clement of Rome (cc. 40-44)
compares the bishops and deacons wiih the Fricsts and Leviies of
the Old Testament, and mentions as the chief duty of the former
* to offer the gifts.' In addition to the prayers and thanksgivings
(Sniyrn. 6, Eph. 13, cf Didache 9), the alms (cf. Polyc. /'////. 4),
and oblations of bread and wine (cf. Clement, cited supra) ^ which
were ngardcd as sacrifices, the association of these with the com-
memoration of Christ's sacrifice and ' the gift of God ' in the
Sacrament (Smyrn. 7, cf. Eph. 20), ccnstituted the Christian
sacrifice or thankoffering (Eucharist). See Justin, Trypho 41, and
Irenceus, iv. 17. 5.

^ That is, martyrdom. Cf. Trail. 12.

* Cf. Trail. 8, note. The outward manifestations of Christ in
His Incarnation is the substance of the Gospel. Zahn suggests the
further thought that after the Ascension the preaching of the Gospel
look the place of the earthly manifestation of the Lord.

^ The * Gospel ' and the * Apostles' plainly refer to the authorities
on which Ignatius bases his faith. Some have seen in the words an
allusion to two distinct collections of writings, /. e. our four Gospels
and the collection of the Apostolic epistles. From the fact that
Polycarp in his one short epistle quotes nine out of the thirteen

EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 85

Church. And the prophets morever we love,^ because
they too looked forward to the Gospel in their preaching,
and hoped in Him and waited for Him ; in Whom also
they believed and were saved '^ in the unity of Jesus
Christ, for they were worthy of our love and admiration,
being holy men, testified of by Jesus Christ and enrolled
together in the Gospel of our common hope.

VI. If any man in his interpretation ^ set forth
Judaism unto you, hear him not. For it is better to
hear Christianity from one who is circumcised than
to hear Judaism from an uncircumcised man.^ But if
both speak not of Jesus Christ, I reckon them to be
tombstones and graves of the dead,^ whereon are in-
scribed merely names of men. Flee therefore the
malicious arts and snares of the prince of this world,®
lest being worn out by his suggestions you grow weak
in love. But meet together, all of you, with an

epistles of St. Paul we may conclude that he possessed a collection
ot these epistles. In the time of Justin {circa 150 a.d.) we learn
that gospels were read at the Sunday Eucharist. We sliould be
assuming, however, too much in saying that in the time of Ignatius
the collection of the four gospels had acquired a fixed authority side
by side with that of the old Testament prophets, and distinct from
the Apostolic epistles. The words are probably a more general
expression for the Gospel as publicly taught and set forth in the
writings, whether gospels or epistles, of the Apostles.

* Probably Ignatius has in mind the Judaizers who set up the
authority of the Old Te^^tament books and ]iriesthood (cf. c. 9)
against the Gospel, lie may be replying to some charj^e laid
against the teaching of the Church as disparaging the Old Testament.
For his treatment of tlie prophets cf. Magn. 8 (notes).

'^ Cf. Mngn. 9 (notes).

* That is, the interpretation of the Old Testament and especially
the prophets. The allusion is to the interpretations of the Judaizers.

* The uncircumcised man is a Gentile Christian who has a
tendency to Judaistic practices. Among such practices circumcision
was evidently at this lime not included. This corresponds with
what we know of the later developments of Ebionism.

•'' Cf. Malt, xxiii. 27. Harnnck sees in the following words a
reference to Kev. iii. 12.
« Cf. Eph. 17 (note).

86 EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS

undivided heart. I thank my God that 1 have a good
conscience in regard to you, and no man can boast that
either in secret or openly I have been burdensome to
any one ^ in things great or small. Yea, and for all
among whom I have spoken I pray that my words may
not prove to be a witness against them.

VII. For even if after the flesh some wished to lead
me astray, yet the Spirit is not deceived since it is from
God. For it knoweth whence it cometh and whither it
goeth,^ and it convicts the things which are in secret.
I cried aloud, when I was among you,^ I spake with a
loud voice, with the voice of God, * Give heed unto the
bishop and the presbytery and deacons.' But they
suspected* that I said this because I knew beforehand
the division caused by some ; ^ yet He is my witness.
Whose prisoner I am, that I learned it not from human
flesh. But it was the Spirit ® Who kept preaching in
these words : * Do nothing without the bishop. Keep
your flesh as a shrine of God. Love union. Flee
divisions. Become followers of Jesus Christ as He also
was of the Father.'

* Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 9, xii. i6, I Thcss. ii. 6. Probably Ignatius is
meeting some charge made against himself in reference to his con-
duct while at Philadelphia. The charge may refer to overbearing
conduct. How he came to know of such charges is explained in
c. II.

* In addition to John iii. 8, there are parallels to the expression
' knoweth not whence . . . goeih' in John viii. 14, ix. 29, xii. 35,
I John ii. II, and oiher passages. On the affinities of thought and
language between the Epistles of Ignatius and the Fourth Gospel
see Introd. p. 29.

' On the route of Ignatius, see Introd. § 3.
• ■* The text is in some confusion. Lighttoot's reading has been
adopted.

^ The Judaistic party had plainly organized themselves into a
schism. Cf. c. 3.

•^ Ignatius here speaks of himself as the recipient of a spiritual
revelation. The gift of prophecy had not yet died out. Similarly
Polycarp is called 'an apostolic and prophetic teacher' {Mart.
Polyc, 16).

EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 87

VIII. I therefore have done my own part as a man
perfectly established in union. But where there is
division and wrath, God dwells not. Therefore the
Lord forgives all that repent, if on their repentance they
turn to the unity of God and the council of the bishop.
I believe in the grace of Jesus Christ, Who shall loose
from off you every bond.^ Moreover, I entreat you,
act not in any matter in the spirit of faction, but as
disciples of Christ. For I have heard some saying,
* Except I find it in the archives ^ I believe it not in the
Gospel.' And when I said to them, * It is written,' ^
they answered me, *That is the question in dispute.'
But my archives^ are Jesus Christ; the inviolable

* Cf. Ts. Iviii. 6, which is quoted by several early Christian
writers. The bond refers probably, as Lightfoot says, to the powtr
of evil generally.

^ The Greek text and the Latin version read in place of
'archives' a word which may be translated either 'ancient
writings' or 'ancient writers.' But as the word 'archives' occurs
twice below it should probably be read in this place also. The
word originally means *a place where records are kept,' and then
came to be used of the documents themselves. The reference here
is to a collection of ancient authoritative records, i. e. the Old
Testament, which these writers set up as an authority against the
Gospel, and with which they required the Gospel to agree. Others,
however, understand 'archives ' to mean the original copies of ihe
Gospel, with which is contrasted the traditional Gospel as preached
and taught. These teachers would then be represented as claiming
that the (Jospel had been falsified, and we should translate, * Except
I find it in the archives, that is, in the (written) Gospel, I do not
believe it.' This rendering, however, gives an unjustifiable sense
to the word ' Gospel ' and does not suit the argument of the chapter
so well.

^ Ignatius claims that the points in question are found in the
Old Testament. The allusion is doubtless to the Cross, Death,
and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which were a stumbling-block
alike to Judaizers and to those who held Docetic views. A similar
appeal to the Old Testament had been made in the first age of the
Church. Cf. Luke xxiv. 26, 46 ; Acts xvii. 3.

** Ignatius, though above he has claimed that the OM Testament
witnesses to Christ, here maintains that the relation of Christ to the
teachers of the Old Covenant is not one of dependence. He is
Himself the supreme authority, and His Passion and Resurrection

88 EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS

archives are His Cross and Death and Resurrection,
and the faith which is through Him. In these I desire
to be justified through your prayer.

IX. Good ^ indeed are the priests, but better is the
High-Priest,2 Who has been entrusted with the Holy of
Holies, for He alone has been entrusted with the secret
things of God. He is Himself the Door^ of the
Father, through which enter in Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob, and the Prophets and the Apostles and the
Church. All these combine in the unity of God.* But
the Gospel has a surpassing gift — even the coming of
the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, His Passion, His
Resurrection. For the Prophets, who are dear to us,
in their preaching looked forward to Him. But the
Gospel is the crown of incorruption. All things alike
are good, if you believe by love.

X. Seeing that, in accordance with your prayer and
the tender love which you have in Christ Jesus, it has
been reported to me^ that the Church which is at

authenticate His mission. Cf. Magn. 8, lo with notes. Below in
c. 9 he further maintains that Christ is the Door through Whom the
men of the Old Covenant must find entrance to God.

^ Here, as in the previous chapter, Ignatius is making concessions
to the Judaizers. He grants the excellence of the Old Covenant,
but maintains the superiority of the Gospel, which centres in
Jesus Christ.

* This word and the passage which follows seem to show that
Ignatius is reproducing the ideas of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
which is also quoted by Clement of Rome, c. 36. Cf especially
Heb. ix., X.

* An allusion to John x. 9. Cf. also Rev. iii. 8, and Clem.
Rom. 48. Similarly in the Shepherd of Hermas (S. ix. 4, 12, 15),
in the building of the Church, the gate through which the stones
are carried is the Son of God, and among the stones built into the
fabric are some which represent the righteous men and prophets
of old.

* The Old Covenant finds its true place in the Divine unity of
revelation, which receives its crowning expression in the Incarnation.

^ The tidings would be brought by the persons mentioned in
C. n.

EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 89

Antioch in Syria is at peace, it is fitting that you, as a
Church of God, should appoint ^ a deacon to journey
thither as an ambassador of God, to rejoice with them
when ihey are met together; and to glorify the Name.
Blessed in Jesus Christ is he who shall be deemed
worthy of such a ministry. You too shall be glorified.
Moreover, if you desire it, it is not impossible for you
to do this for God's Name ; even as the churches which
lie nearest have sent bishops, and others presbyters and
deacons.

XI. Concerning Philo, the deacon from Cilicia, a
man well reported of, who even now is ministering for
me in the word of God,^ together with Rhaius Agatho-
pus, an elect man, who accompanies me from Syria,
having bidden farewell to the ordinary life of men;
who also bear witness unto you — I too thank God for
you, that you received them, as the Lord shall receive
you. May they who treated them dishonourably be
ransomed by the grace of Jesus Christ. The love of
the brethren who are at Troas salutes you, whence also
I write unto you by the hand of Burrhus,^ who was sent
with me by them of Ephesus and Smyrna to do me
honour. They shall receive honour from the Lord
Jesus Christ, in Whom they hope in flesh, soul, spirit,
by faith, love, conco:d. Farewell in Jesus Christ, our
common Hope.

^ Cf. similar directions in Smyrn. 11, Polyc. 7.
'^ Or, as Zahn, ' ministering to me in the cause of God.'
^ So Lighifoot. But Burrhus may have been the bearer of llie
epistle. See note on Rom. 10.

VI. THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^ANS.

[Smyrna was one of the oldest of the Greek cities on the west
coast of Asia. During the first and second centuries a.d. it vied
with Ephesus and Pergamos in claiming the title * first city of Asia.'
Of the foundation of the Church at Smyrna we have no record in
the New Testament, but it may possibly be placed at some period
durijig St. Paul's three years' residence at Ephesus, as it was within
easy reach of that city and was a great centre of trade. We have
a picture of the Church in this city in Rev. ii. 8-11. That passage
contains an allusion to persecution (ii. 10), and also to the hostility
and calumnies of the Jews (ii. 9). Ignatius had stayed at Smyrna
and had received a warm welcome from the Church and its bishop
Polycarp. The number of salutations would point to his having
n.ade many friends there. The present letter was written from
Troas. The rapid transition, immciliately after the opening
salutation, to the sjibject of the Docetic heresy (cc. 1-7) seems to
show that the Church at Smyrna bad been endangered by its
presence. Moreover in c. 7 Ignatius warns his readers against
associating with these heretics. The epistle contains the most
detailed account of Docelism to be found in the Ignatian writings.
From c. 6 we learn that these heretics had neglected the practical
duties of Christianity. From cc. 7, 8 it appears that they had
formed into separatist communities (see notes). Hence the heresy
is probably of a more developed character than that referred to in
the t pistles to the Ephesians and Trallians. There are, however,
no allusions to Judaism unless we except cc. 5, 7. The opening
words of c. I indicate that as yet the Church had remained stead-
fast. In cc. 7, 8 there is a strong statement of the unity of the
Church. Of special interest is the occurrence for the first time in
Chris'ian literature of the phrase *the Catholic Church ']

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to the Church of
God the Father and Jesus Christ the Beloved,^ to her
that has been mercifully blessed with every gift, filled
with faith and love, lacking in no gift, most highly
revered, the bearer of sacred vessels,^ to the Church

1 Cf. Eph. i. 6.

^ ayio<f>6p(i>j 'fruitful in saints,' Wake, following Pearson. Prob-
ably, however, the idea is the same as in Eph. 9, and contains an

90

THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^^ANS 91

which is at Smyrna in Asia, in a blameless spirit and in
the word of God heartiest greeting.

I. I render glory to Jesus Christ the God ^ Who has
given you such wisdom. For I have perceived that you
are firmly settled in unwavering faith, being nailed, as
it were, to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ ^ in flesh
and spirit, and firmly planted in love in the blood of
Christ, being fully convinced as touching our Lord that
He is truly of the race of David after the flesh, and Son
of God after the Divine will and power ,^ truly born of
a virgin, baptized by John, that all righteousness might
be fulfilled by Him,* under Pontius Pilate and Herod
the Tetrarch ^ truly nailed for us in the flesh (of Whose
fruit are we,® even of His most blessed Passion) ; that

allusion to the heathen ceremonial. *The "sacred vessels" which
the Church of Smyrna bears are its Christian graces and virtues.'

— LiGHTFOOT.

^ The Armenian and Coptic versions omit the words 'the God.'
On the other hand, ihe Greek text and the Latin version contain
them, and the passage is quoted by two P'alhers of the sixth century
with the words inserted. On Ignatius' use of the word 'God 'as
a- plied to Jesus Christ see Introd § 4.

* Cf. Gal. ii. 20. But here the idea is faith in the reality of the
suftVrings and death of Christ upon the Cross. Cf. Polyc. Phil. 7.

* Cf. Eph. 18, note.

* Cf. Matt. iii. 15.

^ VS. Luke xxiii. 7-12 ; Acts iv. 27 ; and see Introd. p. 17.

* Cf. Trail. II. The Cross here, as in that passage, is repre-
sented apparently as a tree.

The words a^)' 0% Kapirov are rendered by Wake, following the
Latin translator, ' by the fruits of which we are, even by His most
blessed Passion,' the * which ' referring to the tree of the Cross.
Zahn lakes a similar construction, but refers the relative pronoun
to Christ. In this case the fruit would be the Christian converts,
in whom Christ ' sees of the travail of His soul,' and the meanincr
would be further explained by the following words, * even of His
most blessed Passion.' In illustration Zahn quotes John iv. 36,
Rom. i. 13, I Cor. ix. 19 sq. This seems preferable to Lightfoot's
rendering, ' from whicli fruit are we,' which requires us to represent
Christ Himself as * the fruit hanging upon the tree.* Possibly,
however, the text is corrupt and we should read Kapwolj 'of Whom
we are the fruits.' This would find a parallel in a piissage from

92 THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^ANS

He might raise up an ensign ^ to the ages through His
resurrection, for His saints and beHevers, whether among
Jews or Gentiles, in one body of His Church.^

II. For all these sufferings He endured for our sakes
[that we might be saved]. And He truly suffered, as
also He truly raised Himself up.^ Nor is it the case, as
some unbelievers affirm, that He suffered in semblance
— it is they who are semblance.* And according to their
opinions, so shall it happen unto them, for they are
unsubstantial and spirit-like.^

III. For I know^ and believe that He was in the flesh
even after the resurrection. And when He came to

Clement of Alexandria quoted by Zahn, where the church is called
* His fruits ' (Kapiroi).

The whole clause * of whose fruit . . . Passion ' is a parenthesis.
The following words * that He might raise ' belong to the preceding
sentence.

^ A reference to Isaiah v. 26 ; cf. also xlix. 22, Ixii. 10. In all
these passages the reference is to the rallying of the nations round
the standard of Jehovah, set up among the chosen people. Ignatius
sees a fulfilment of the prophecy in the Passion crowned by the
Resurrcctit)n. Jerome states that some Christian writers undei stood
the passage Is. v. 26 to refer to the Cross. The symbolism is
certainly found earlier than the time when Constantino adopted
the Cross as his standard, and may have betn suggested by the
language of John xii. 32.

^ The language of this passage clearly recalls the teaching of
St. Paul's Epistle to the Epliesians. Cf. Eph. ii. 16, iii. 6, i. 23
etc.; Col. i. 18

' In c. 6 Ignatius speaks of Christ as being raised by the Fatluer,
and this is the more general language of the N. T. But with the
present passage cf. John x. 18.

* Cf. Trail. 9, 10, where there is a similar play on the word
Stf/cijrrts, 'seeming,* from which these teachers derived their name
Docetoe.

* The denial of the reality of the human nature of the Lord
involved the denial of the resurrection of the body. There is
•probably an allusion to this in these last phiases. Ignatius has
also in view, probably, the quotation which follows in the next
chapter, * I am not a spirit without body.*

" The Latin version here reads * I have seen ' in place of * I
know.* This was probably due to a careless translation found in
Jerome ( Vt'r. Illustr. 16), who is plainly quoting at second-hand
from Eusebius.

THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN.EANS 93

Peter and those who were with him, He said to them,

* Take, handle me and see that I am not a spirit without
body.' ^ And straightway they touched Him and believed,
being united with His flesh and spirit.^ Therefore also
they despised death, and were found to rise above death.
Moreover after His resurrection He ate with them and
drank with them,^ as living in the flesh, although spiritu-
ally united with the Father.

IV. Now these things I urge upon you, beloved,
knowing that you also are thus minded. But I watch
over you to guard you from wild beasts in the form
of men, whom you must not only refuse to receive,
but, if possible, not even meet [them]. Only pray for
them, if haply they may repent. Though this * is
difficult, yet Jesus Christ, our true Life, has power to
effect it. For if these deeds were wrought by our
Lord in mere semblance, then too are my bonds mere
semblance. Why moreover have I surrendered myself

^ The incident reconltd here bears a strong resemblance to that
in Luke xxiv. 36-42. But there are striking dilTerences, which
show that it comes from a different source. Especially interesting
is the phiase *an incorporeal spirit,' whereas St. Luke has *a spirit
hath not flesh and bones.' Wliether Ignatius derived the quotation
from some apocryphal Gospel or from tradition, it is difTicult to
say. Eusebius quotes this passage of Ij^natius {H. E. iii. 36), but
admits his ignorance of the source of it. The words are ascribed
by Origen to the ap )cryphal 'Doctrine of Peter,' and by Jeiome
to the Gospel according to the Hebrews. In any case the words
would ai)pear to represent a later tradition than the simpler and
more natural words of St. Luke.

* Reading * spirit ' wiih the Greek text and the Latin and Coptic
versions. The Armenian veision, however, reads * blood,' which
Lightfoot prefers. Against the argument (see Lightfoot) that

* spirit ' miglit easily be substituted for ' blood,' may be set the
counter-argument that the difiicully of understanding how the dis-
cioles could be * joined to His Spirit' may have led to the alteration
'blood.' The invitatii»n to feel the nail-prints might suggest the
word * blood.' On the other hand it is possible that Ignatius had
in mind John xx. 20-22 and the incident of the gift of the Spirit of
the risen Christ.

' Luke xxiv. 30, 35, 42 ; John xxi. 13.
■* I. e. their repentance.

94 THE EPISTLK TO THE SMYRN^:ANS

to death, to face fire, sword, wild beasts? Yet he that
is near to the sword is near to God,^ in the presence
of wild beasts, in the presence of God — only may it be
in the name of Jesus Christ, that we may suffer with
Him. All things I endure,^ since He, the perfect Man,
makes me strong.®

V. Yet Him certain persons ignorantly deny, or
rather they have been denied by Him,* for they are
advocates of death '^ rather than of the truth. They
have not hearkened unto the prophecies nor the law
of Moses,^ nor even up till now to the Gospel, nor to
the sufferings which we severally endure. "^ For they
have the same thoughts also about us.® For what
profit is it to me, if a man praises me, but speaks evil
of my Lord, refusing to confess that He has borne our
flesh ? But he that will not assert this has completely
denied Him, and himself bears about with him a
corpse.® Now their names, since they are unbelievers,
I have not thought good to write. May I not even
remember them, until they have repented and turned
to the Passion, which is our resurrection.

^ Cf. a saying attributed to our Lord, recorded by Didymus on
Ps. Ixxxviii. 8: 'He who is near "Me is near the fire, he that is
afar from Me is far from the Kingdom.*

^ Cf. 2 Tim. ii. lo.

» Cf. Phil. iv. 13.

* Cf. 2 Tim. ii. 12 ; Gal. iv. 9.

^ That is, by denying Christ's death and resurrection they deny
I he Christian hope of immortality.

* This need not refer to Judaistic teaching, but may equally well
be said of any error which ignored the testimony of the prophets
and the facts of the Lord's life. For the Christian attitude to Old
Testament prophecy see Magn. 9, Philad. 5, 8, 9.

' Their sufferings are a testimony to Christ's death and resur-
rection.

® Cf. c. 4. Their view of Christ's death and resurrection leads
them to think of Christ's martyrs as idle visionaries.

* See note above on c. 2. According to their teaching the body
which I hey bore about with them was already practically a corpse,
since they had undermined the belief in the resurrection.

THK EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^:ANS 95

VI. Let no man be deceived. Even the heavenly
powers and the glory of the angels and the principalities
both visible and invisible,^ except they believe in the
blood of Christ [Who is God],^ have a judgment await-
ing them. Let him that receiveih receive,^ Let not
office puff up any man. For faith and love are every-
thing, and there is nothing better than these. Mark
those who hold strange doctrine with regard to the
grace* of Jesus Christ, which came unto us, how
opposed they are to the mind of God. They have no
thought for love, nor for the widow,^ the orphan, the
afflicted, the prisoner,® the hungry nor the thirsty.
They withhold themselves from Eucharist ' and prayer,
because they confess not® that the Eucharist is the

^ Cf. Trail. 5 with notes.

* The words in brackets are found apparently in two quotations
of this passage in writers of the fifth and sixth centuries, but they
are omitted l»y the Greek text and the Latin, Armenian, and
Coptic versions. Against their genuineness is the fact that Ignatius
never speaks of Christ as * God ' in this absolute way. See
Introd. § 4.

* Malt. xix. 12.

* X<^pis, 'the gift of Christ's incarnation and pa«^si6n.' — Light-
FOr>T.

^ For the 'order' o. widows see I Tim. v. 9 and cf. Acts vi.
I, ix. 41 ; see also Polyc. 4. From enrly times the Church
organized with the greatest car^ her benevolent work. About
250 A.I). Cornelius claimed that in the Church of Rome there
were ' fifteen hundred widows and persons in distress, all of
whom the grace and kindness of the MaNter nourish' (Euseb. /J.£.

vi. 43)-

* Cf. Ileb. X. 34.. The Greek text and the Latin version add
after 'prisoner' the words 'or him that has been leleased.' But
they nre probably spurious.

' On the word * Eucharist ' see Philad. 4 note. By * abstaining
from Euchari-it ' Ignatius means that they abstained from the
authorized, public Eucharist of the Church. Non-.- of the Gnostic
sects appear to have altogether ceased from holding Eucharistic
feasts in their own assemblies. But according to Ignatius such
Kucharists would not be regular or 'valid.' See c. 8.

The prayer refers to the public prayer of the Church, especially
that connected with the Eucharist.

® The reali'y of Christ's humanity was denied by these heretics.

96 THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^ANS

flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which flesh suflered
for our sins, and which in His loving-kindness the
Father raised up.

VII. So then they who speak against the gift of
God ^ die by their disputing. It were better for them
to exhibit love, that they may also rise again. Therefore
it is fitting to withhold yourselves from such, and to
say nothing either in private or in public about them,
but rather to give heed unto the prophets,^ and espe-
cially to the Gospel, wherein the passion is manifested
to us and the resurrection is accomplished.

VIII. Avoid divisions,^ as the beginning of evil.
Follow, all of you, the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed
the Father ; and follow the presbytery as the Apostles.*
Moreover reverence the deacons as the commandment
of God.^ Let no man do aught pertaining to the
Church apart from the bishop. Let that eucharist be
considered valid ^ which is under the bishop or him to
whom he commits it. Wheresoever the bishop appears,
there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ

Such denial involved a disbelief in the viitue of the Sacrament
which was a means of communion with the divinely exalted
humanity of Christ. Cf. the language of John vi. Similarly
Irenoeus argues that the Gnostics are inconsistent in offering the
Eucharistic gifts, holding such views as they do upon the human
nature of Christ (Iren. iv. i8. 5).

^ That is, the Incarnation and its issues, including a reference to
the Eucharist.

* Cf. above, c. 5, and Philad. 5, 9.

' Ignatius here warns them against separatism, as above he has
been wai ning them against hei esy. The Docetie were guilty of both.

* Cf. antea, Magn. 6, 7, 13 ; Trail. 2, 3.

^ /. e. *as the voice of God enjoining you.' — Lightfoot.

* The word translated * valid ' {$€&aios) is found in Rom. iv. 16,
Hel). ii. 2, ix. 17, and also in Ign. A^om, 3. It expresses the idea
of security, and is use-l of the ratiHcation of a promise or the
validity of a covenant. It is the opposite of th.it which is pre-
carious and insecure. Ignatius emphasizes the sacramental, no less
than the doctrinal, unity of the Church. Cf. his language on the
* one altar ' in Magn. 7, Phila'l. 4, and see Inlrod. § 4.

THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^^:ANS 97

Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church. ^ It is not lawful
apart from the bishop either to baptize ^ or to hold
a lovo-feast.^ But whatsoever he approves, that also is

^ ' The bishop, argues Ignatius, is the centre of each individual
Church, as Jesus Christ is the centre of the universal Church.' —

LlGHTFOOT.

This is the earliest occurrence in Christian literature of ihe
phrase * the Catholic Church * {tj naBoXiK^ iKKK-naia). The original
sense of the word is * universal.' Thus Justin Martyr {Dial. 82)
speaks of the * universal or general resurrection,' using the words
r\ KaOo\iK^ avdcrraais. Similarly here the Church universal is
contrasted with the particular Church of Smyrna. Ignatius means
by the Catholic Church * the aggregate of all the Christian congre-
gations ' (Swete, Apostles^ I 'reed, p. 76). So too the letter of the
Church of Smyrna is addressed * to all the congregations of the
Holy Catholic Church in every place.' And this primitive sense
of universal ' the word has never lost, although in the latter part
of the second century it began to receive the secondary sense of
'orthodox' as opposed to 'heretical.' Thus it is used in an early
Canon of Scripture, the Muratorian fragment {circa 190-210 A.D. ),
which refers to certain heretical writings as 'not received in the
Catholic Church.' So too Cyril of Jerusalem, in the fourth century,
says that the Church is called Catholic not only ' because it is
spread throughout the world,' but also 'because it teaches com-
pletely and without defect all the doctrines which ought to come
to ihe knowledge of men.' This secondary sense arose out of the
original meaning because Catholics claimed to teach the whole
truth, and to represent the whole Church, while heresy arose out
of the exaggeration of some one truth and was essentially partial
and local. The use of the word in this passage by Ignatius has
been urged as an indication of the late date of the epistles. But
the fact that it is used in its primary sense is on the contrary an
indication of early date.

* Ignatius is writing at a time when the extent of a bishop's
administration did not exceed that of a town parish at the present
day, and when the clergy worked in much closer connection with
him than is possible now. (See note, Rom. 2.) The principle
underlying his statement, however, is the general necessity of due
authorization of ministerial acts by the bishop.

^ aydiriiv. The earliest use of the word in this sense is Jude 12
(cf. 2 Pet. ii. 13, where brydirais is read by some MSS. in place of
OTTaTais, ' deceivings'). The name was given to the social meals,
in which the early Church sought to give expression to the unity
and brotheily love of its members. There are analogies to the
custom in Jewish life and in the club feasts of Greek and Roman life.
The fact that our Lord instituted the Eucharist in connection with
a common meal may explain the association of the two at Corinth
in the time of St. Paul (i Cor. xi. 17 f.), though the name Agape

G

98 THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^^:ANS

well-pleasing to God, that everything which you do
may be secure and valid.

IX. It is reasonable that henceforth we should awake
and live soberly,^ while we have opportunity to repent
and turn to God. It is good to acknowledge God and
the bishop. He that honours the bishop is honoured
of God. He that does anything without the knowledge
of the bishop serves the Devil. Let all things then
abound unto you in grace, for you are worthy. In

is not found in that passage. Some scholars have seen a similar
combination of Eucharist and Agap^ in the Didachc (cc. ix, x),
though others refer the account there given to the Eucharist alone,
the A«;ape being mentioned in c. xi.

Lighlfoot thinks that in the present passage Ignatius includes
the Eucharist in the Agape, since he appears to describe the two
most important functions in which a bishop could bear a part, and
it is difficult to explain the omission of the Eucharist, if it is not
included in the phrase. Hence he argues that in the lime of
Ignatius the separation of the two had not yet taken place (see
Introd. p. 1 8). Jiut this argument is weakened by the lact that
the connection of the bishop with the Eucharist has already l)een
sufficiently indicated in what precedes. In the almost contem-
porary letter of Pliny to Trajan (c. 112.A.D.), after describing how
the Christians met l)efore daylight and sang a hymn to Christ as
God and lx)und themselves by an oath {sacramento) to live a strict
life, the writer goes on: 'After this was done, their custom was
to depart and meet again to take food, which was, however, quite
ordinary and harmless.' In this description Lightfoot sees a refer-
ence to the celebration of the Eucliarist {sacramenium may mean
'oath* or 'sacrament') before daylight followed by a later meeting
for the Agape, and he argues that in Bithynia the two were at this
date distinct. But the early history of the Agape is involved in
great obscurity, and the j^roblem of its connection with the Eucharist
is the more difficult owing to the sacred character given to other
meals than the Eucharist in early Christian times, and the fact
that religious exerci es were associated with ihcm. See e.g. the
description of an evening meal (whicii appears to have been an
Agape) in TertuUian, Apology, c. 39, and the account of the
Service of the Evening Lamp in the so-called Egyptian Church
Order (attributed by some recent scholars to Hippolytus) in
Horner, Statutes of the Apostles, pp. 188 f. On ihe whole question
see Bishop Maclean, art. * Agape ' in Hastings' Encycl, of Religion
afid Ethics.

* Cf. 2 Tim. ii. 26.

THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN.^^ANS 99

every way you have refreshed me, and Jesus Christ
shall refresh you. Ahke in my absence and presence
you have cherished me. May (>od reward you, and as
you endure for His sake, so shall you attain unto Him.

X. You did well in receiving as ministers of [Christ
Who is] ^ God, Philo and Rhaius Agathopus, who
accompanied me for the sake of God ; who also give
thanks unto the Lord for you, because you refreshed
them in every way. You shall surely lose nothing.
My spirit devotes itself for you,^ as also my bonds
which you did not scorn, and of which you were not
ashamed. Nor shall He be ashamed of you. Who is
perfect faithfulness, Jesus Christ.

XI Your prayer has gone forth unto the Church
which is at Antioch in Syria. From thence I come,
bound with the godly adornment of these chains, and
I salute you, not as though I am worthy to belong to
that Church, since I am the very last among them. In
accordance with the will of God I have been deemed
worthy, not of my own conscious act, but by God's
grace, which I pray may be given to me completely,
that by your prayer I may attain unto God. In order
the.i that your work may be made complete, on earth
as well as in Heaven, it is fitting that your Church
should appoint for the honour of God an ambassador
of God,^ to visit Syria and congratulate them because
they are at peace and have received again their proper
stature,* and have had restored to them the proper
measure of their body.^ It seemed then to me a

^ Probably ihei-e words are corrupt.

2 Cf. Polyc. 2 anl Eph. 21 (note).

• Cf. Philad. 10, and the fuller account in Polyc. 7.

•* The Church had been diminished by the eflects of persecution.

*"' In this and in the preceding phrase the Church at Antioch is
compared to a fully developed human body, which for a time had
been attenuated by persecution. The word aufxartiovj translated

loo THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^.AiNS

worthy act for you to send some one of your number
with a letter, to give glory with them for the calm
which by God's appointment has set in for them, and
because through your prayer they were now reaching
the haven. Inasmuch as you are perfect, set your aims
also on that which is perfect.^ For if you desire to act
well, God is ready to aid you.

XII. The love of the brethren who are at Troas
salutes you. Hence also I am writing to you by the
hand of Biirrhus,^ whom you sent in my company
together with the Ephesians your brethren. In every-
thing he has refreshed me. And I would that all
imitated him, for he is a pattern of the ministry of God.
The Divine grace shall wholly lequite him. I salute
your godly bishop and revered presbytery, and my
fellow-servants the deacons, and all of you both individu-
ally and in common, in the name of Jesus Christ, and
in His flesh and blood, in His Passion and Resurrection
which was both of the flesh and spirit, in the unity ^
wherewith God binds you all. Grace, mercy, peace,
patience be unto you always.

XIII. I salute the households of my brethren with
their wives and children, and the virgins who are called
widows.* I bid you farewell in the power of the Father.

*the measure of their body,' is found in Eusebius, H.E. x. 5 and
in the Code of Justinian in ihe legal sense of 'a body corporate.'

^ i. €. to fulfil the ' work ' referred to above.

^ On the question whether this refers to the scribe or the bearer
of the epistle see Rom. 10, Philad. 11 (notes).

^ Notice how Ignatius sums up in this sentence the warnings
contained in this epistle. The mention of the resurrection as being
* of both flesh and spirit ' is an allusion to Docetic views. The
mention of * unity ' is an allusion to the separatism of the heretics.

^ There have l)een several interpretations of these words. The
most convincing is that of Lighfoot. According to him the words
refer to those women who, * though by name and in outward con-
dition they are widows,' yet are here called virgins, because they

THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN.4^:ANS ioi

Philo, my companion, salutes you. I salute the house-
hold of Gavia, and pray that she may be established in
faith and love both in flesh and spirit. I salute Alce,^ a
name dear to me, and the excellent Daphnus and Eutec-
nus and all by name. Farewell in the grace of God.

are * such in God's sight by their purity and devotion.* There is an
allusion to the order of widows, on which see note, c. 6.

^ Cf. Polyc. 8, and also the letter of the Church of Smyrna,
c. 17, where the same name is found. Both passages may refer to
the same person.

VII. THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP.

[This epistle was one of those which were written from Troas
immediately before Ignatius and his guard set sail for Neapolis
(c. 8), and probably accompanied the letter addressed to the
Church at Smyrna. It is of a more personal character than any of
the others, and reveals the affection entertained by Ignatius for
Polycarp. Ignatius had stayed at Smyrna and had apparently
received much kindness from its bishop, of whom he makes a
grateful mention in the letters written from that city (Eph. 21,
Magn. 15).

Whether Ignatius had been acquainted with Polycarp before
this visit it is difficult to say. The Antiochene Acts speak of
Polycarp as the * fellow-student ' of Ignatius, and add, * for in old
time ihey had been disciples of John ' (c. 3). But the tone of the
present epistle certainly indicates that Polycarp was considerably
the younger of the two, and was in fact a comparatively young
man. The disparity of age would thus render improbable the
statement of the Acts. On the other hand, when Ignatius expresses
his gratitude that he has been permitted to see Polycarp (Polyc. i),
this language is insufficient to justify us in assuming, as Pearson
and Lightfoot do, that Ignatius had not seen him before his visit
tp Smyrna.

The epistle was undoubtedly intended to be read also by the
members of the Church at Smyrna, as in c. 6 he addresses them
and enjoins them to obey their bishop. In the more directly
personal part of the epistle he gives advice to Polycarp with
reference to the various responsibilities of his office and his own
personal conduct. He gives full instructions as to the choice of a
delegate to represent the Church of Smyrna at Antioch, and makes
a passing allusion to heresy. See c. 3.]

Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to Polycarp, who
is bishop of the Church in Smyrna, or rather, who has
God the Father and Jesus Christ for his bishop,^
abundant greeting.

I. I welcome your godly purpose which is firmly
planted as on an immovable rock, and I render ex-

^ Cf. Magn. 3 ; Rom. 9 (notes).
102

THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP 103

ceeding glory that I have been granted the sight o
your blameless face— may I have joy of it in pod. I
urge you in the grace wherewith you are clothed to
press on in your race, and to urge all men to be saved.
Assert your office with all diligence of flesh and spirit.^
Give heed unto union, for there is nothing better. Bear
all men, as the Lord also bears you.^ Suffer all men in
love, as indeed you do suffer them. Devote yourself to
unceasing prayer?. Ask for greater understanding than
you have. Be watchful, possessing a wakeful spirit.
Speak to each man individually after God's way.^ Bear
the infirmities of all men, as a perfect athlete.* Where
there is more toil there is greater gain.

n. If you love good disciples, this does not win you
favour.^ Rather subdue by meekness the more pestilent.
Not every wound is cured by the same salve. Ease
sharp pains by fomentations. Become prudent as the
serpent in all things^ and harmless continually as the dove.^
Therefore you aie of flesh and spirit, that you may
humour the things which are visibly present before
your face.' But ask that the things which are unseen

* Polycarp is urged to make ihe power and influence of his office
felt by an attentive discharge of all its duties.

* For the idea of this passage cf. Gal. vi. 2. The latter part of
the sentence is probably taken from Is. liii. 4, following ihe version
given in Matt. viii. 17, which differs from the LXX rendering.
The influen«.e of the same passage is also to be noticed a few lines
below, where Ignatius says : * Bear the infirmities of ail men.'

* i. e. in conformity with the character of God as revealed in
the principles on . which He acts. Cf. Matt. v. 45 ff. , which
probably suggested this passage.

* Cf. for the figure 2 Tim. ii. 5 and Heb. x 32. In later times
the word 'athlete ' became a common synonym lor a martyr.

' The spirit of this passage resembles that of Luke vi. 32 and
I Pet. ii. 18.

* A reference to Matt. x. 16.

' By * the things visibly present before your face ' Ignatius means
* the visible, material world.* This world is to be * humoured * into
ol^edience to God. The two elements of man's nature, flesh and
spirit, render it possible for him to act as a mediator between the

104 THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP

may be manifested to you, that you may lack nothing
and mav abound in every gift. The season demands
you, as pilots demand winds and the tempest- tossed
man demands the haven, so as to attain unto God.^
Be temperate, as God's athlete. The prize is incorrup-
tion and life eternal, concerning which also you have
been persuaded. In all things I devote myself for you,
even I and my bonds which you have cherished.^

III. Let not those who seem to be specious and yet
bring novel teaching dismay you. Stand firm as an
anvil when it is smitten. It is the part of a great
athlete to suffer blows and to conquer. And above all
for God's sake we ought to endure all things, that He
also may endure us. Become more zealous than you
are. Consider the sca«^ons.^ Look for Him Who is
above all seasons. Who is timeless, invisible, made
visible for our sakes, Who is beyond the touch of our
hands, beyond suffering, Who yet suffered for us. Who
in every way endured for us.

IV. Let not widows be neglected.* Next to the Lord

material and the spiritual world. The passage expresses in a
somewhat homely way a truth which recalls the great sayinj; of
St. Paul, ' I am made all things to all men.'

^ The text here is probably in some confusion. The reading
translated above represents the crisis as the pilot and Polycarp as
ihc breeze, which gives an unnatural sense. Lightfoot suggests an
emendation of the text which would yield the translation: 'The
season demands you, as a ship demands a pilot, and as a tempest-
tossed mariner the haven.* The metaphor of a ship to denote the
Church is frequently found in Inter Christian writers. The ahiidged
Syriac version contains a reading in this passage which indicates
the presence of the word 'ship' in the text.

^ Or, as Zahn would translate it here, following Bunsen,
' kissed,' referring to a practice alluded to by TertuUian and the
Acts of Paul and Thecla. But, though ayairav is used of external
demonstrations of affection, there seems no authority for this precise
sense.

^ Cf. Matt. xvi. 3 ; Luke xii. 56.

* Sec note on Smyrn. 6.

THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP 105

be yourself their guardian.^ Let nothing be done with-
out your approval, neither yourself do anything without
God's ai)proval, as indeed you do not. Be firm. Let
assemblies ^ be held more often. Search out all men
by name. Treat not disdainfully bondmen or bond-
women, yet neither let them be puffed up, but let them
serve the more^ to the glory of God, that they may
obtain from God a better freedom. Let them not desire
to gain their freedom out of the common fund,* that
they may not be found the slaves of lust.

V Flee evil arts,^ or rather discourse upon theni.^
Charge my sisters to love the Lord and to be satisfied
with their husbands in flesh and spirit. Likewise charge
my brethren in the name of Jesus Christ to love their
wives, iven as the Lord loved the Church? If any one is
able to abide in i)urity ® to the honour of the flesh,

* Or ' trustee,' *a semi- official term.' — Lightfoot.

^ <ruva7«7af, lit. 'synagogues,' a name derived from Jewish
usage and applied in the N. T. to the meetings for worship held
by Jewish Christians. See James ii. 2. Here, however, it is used
quite generally. For the duty here enforced see Heb. x. 25.

* Cf. I Tim. vi. 2.

* For this custom of the early Church cf. the Apostolic Con-
stitutions iv. 9, where the ransom of slaves is included among the
objects to which the Church alms may be devoted.

^ Various interpretations have been given of this warninij. Some
have seen in these * evil arts ' a reference to the * black arts ' 01
witchcraft, sorcery, etc. which we know to have been common in
these regions. See Acts xix. 19. Others, as Zahn, take the phrase
more generally to denote nil improper ways of taming a living.
Zahn rightly urges that it would be an easy transition for the writer,
after speaking of slaves, to pass 011 to the other elements of life to
be found in the great cities of the day, tlie disreputable callings of
actors, mountebanks, wizards, etc.

* Polycarp is urged to warn his hearers against the dangers
alluded to by 'holding discourse' upon them, i.e. by making
mention of them in his sermons in the Christian assemblies.

■^ An echo of Eph. v. 25.

^ The word for * purity,' ayvc/a, is used here in the strictest sense
to denote ' virginal chastity.* In the second and third centuries
there grew up within the Church a widespread feeling upon this
subject, which led many both married and unmarried to devote

io6 THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP

which is the Lord's ^ let him abide therein without
boasting. If he boast, he has perished. And if it be
known further than the bishop,^ he is corrupted. It is
fitting that those who marry, both men and women,
should enter into the union with the approval of the
bishop, that the marriage may be according to the Lord
and not according to lust. Let all things be done to the
honour of God.

VI. Give heed ^ unto the bishop, that God also may
give heed unto you. I devote myself for those who
submit to the bishop, presbyters, deacons. May it be
mine to have my portion along with them in the presence
of God. Share one another's toil,* contend together,
run together, suffer together, alike in rest and rising
be together, as stewards ^ and assessors and ministers of
God. Please Him under Whom you serve,^ from Whom
also you shall receive your pay. Let none of you be

themselves to perpetual chastity. The starting-point for such a
view was probably the words of St. Paul, i Cor. vii. i ff.

.^ Cf. I Cor. vi. 15 sq. The words are especially applicable to
th )se spoken of here.

* Those who devote themselves to perpetual chastity are to make
known their vow to the bishop, but to no one else. To parade
their virtue would be an act of immodesty. Others, however, as
Zahn, would translate here * if he become better known than the
bishop,* i. e. if his chastity win him greater fame than the bishop,
supposing the latter to be married.

' At this point Ignatius turns to the members of the Church of
Smyrna. In the whole of this and the following chapter he is
addressing them.

* The phrase alludes to the hard course of training which athletes
underwent. Cf Phil. ii. 16 ; Col. i. 29 ; i Tim. iv. 10. The
following passage continues the mttaphor, and the words * rest * and
'rising* refer to the hours of sleep and rising appointed by the
trainer.

* The word * stewards' is used here of Christians generally. Cf.
I Pet. iv. 10. The following word * assessors ' is a strong expression
of the idea found in i Cor. iii. 9.

* Cf. 2 Tim. ii. 4.

THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP 107

found a deserter.^ Let your baptism abide as your shield,^
your faith as your helmet, your love as your spear
your patience as body-armour. Let your works be your
deposit,^ that you may receive the sums credited to you
as your due. So then be long-suffering with one another
in meekness as God is with you. May I have joy of
you continually.

VIL Since the Church which is at Antioch in Syria
enjoys peace * through your prayer, as I have been in-
formed, I also have been more greatly cheered, and God
has set my mind at rest ; if haply I may through suffer-
ing attain unto God, so that I may be found, through
your entreaty, a disciple.^ It is meet, most blessed
Polycarp, that you should assemble a godly council and
appoint* some one of your number, who is greatly

* The word used here is the Latin word * desertor ' ; similarly
below the words translated * deposit ' and * sums accredited to you '
are Latin words. The presence with Ignatius of an escort of
Roman soldiers helps to explain the use of such words, and also the
repeated reference to the details of a soldier's life and equipment.

^ /. e. your baptism into the privileges and ble-sings of the
Christian life will be found your best defence ag.iinst sin. The
metaphor in this passage was undoubttdly suggested by Eph. vi.
13-17, though it is worked out differently.

' Zahn compares for the general sentiment here Matt. vi. 20, xix
21 ; Tobit iv. 8, 9. The metaphor is derived from the savings-bank
attached to the cohorts of the Roman legions. The sums accumu-
lated in this way were paid over to soldiers at their discharge,
l^eserters forfeited their savings.

^ Cf. Philad. 10, with note.

* In the Greek there is a play of words which may have been
intended to recall, as Lightfoot suggests, a Greek proverb, irod^/iOTo
fiad-fifiara, 'suffering brings wisdom.' There is, however, some
doubt about the text in this passage. Another reading, supported
by some MSS. and adopted by Zahn, would yield the translation,
* so that I may be found at the resurrection your disciple.' Then
the contrast would be between * suffering* and * resurrection.' The
expression * your disciple ' would find a parallel in Eph. 3, where
his readers are spoken of as his trainers for the athletic contest.

* Cf. Smyrn. ii, where the messenger is called * God's ambas-
sador.'

io8 THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP

beloved and full of zeal, that he may bear the name of
God's messenger : — it is meet, I say, that you should
commission him to go to Syria and glorify your untiring
love to the glory of God.^ A Christian has not power
over himself, but devotes his time to God. For this is
God's work and yours, when you have completed it. For
I trust in God's grace that you are prepared to do a
good work which is meet for God. I have exhorted
you in a brief letter, because I know how earnest is your
sincerity.

VIII. Seeing that I could not write unto all the
churches, because I sail immediately from Troas to
Neapolis,^ as God's will commands, you shall write to
the churches which lie in front,^ as yourself possessing
the mind of God, to bid them also do the same thing.
Let those who can send messengers, the rest letters by
the hands of the messengers whom you send, that you
may be glorified, as you are worthy to be, by a work that
will live for ever.

I salute all by name, as also the wife of Epitropus,*
with all her household and her children's. I salute
Attalus my beloved. I salute him who is to be com-
missioned to go to Syria. God's grace shall be with
him continually, and with Polycarp who sends him. I
bid you farewell continually in our God, Jesus Christ, fn

* The purpose of this mission is more fully stated Philad. lo ;
Smjrn. ii.

^ For Neapolis see Acts xvi. ii. It was the port of Philippi.
From Philippi Ignatius would travel along the Via Egnalia to
Dyrrhachium and thence by sea to Italy.

* t. e. nearer to Syria.

* Lightfoot thinks the passage may be translated * the widow of
the procurator.' His reasons are — (i) there is no mention of the
husi and in the following salutation ; (2) the word * Epiiropus' may
possibly be, not a proper name, but the title of an ofHce, as
inscriptions found at Smyrna mention an officer called iTfirpoiros
(TTf)aTr]y65.

THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP 109

Whom abide in the unity and under the governance ^ of
God. I salute Alee, a name dear to me. Farewell in
the Lord.

^ The word here is ^iricr/coir^, the title of the bishop's office. Cf.
the opening words of the epistle, where Polycarp is said to have
God as his bishop.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

«

(I) THE HERESIES IN THE CHURCHES

OF ASIA.

All the epistles, with the exception of those to the
Romans and to Polycarp, contain warnings against heresy.
In the epistles to the Magnesians and Philadelphians
Ignatius deals with a Judaistic error, which showed itself
in a return to the ceremonialism of the Jewish I^w and
in a setting up of the authority of the Old Testament
against the Gospel (Magn. 8, 9, 10; Philad. 6, 8, 9).
The epistle to the Philadelphians exhibits the more de-
veloped form of this tendency. In the epistles to the
Trallians and Smyrnaeans Ignatius opposes a Docetic
error which denied the reality of the birth, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, and maintained that our
Lord's body was a mere phantom. Cf. esp. Trail. 9, 10 ;
Smyrn. i, 2, 3. We see the more developed form of this
tendency in the epistle to the Smymaeans. In both
cases the false teaching had led finally to schism (Philad.
2, 3, 7 ; Smyrn. 6, 8, 9). From some references to Doce-
tism in the epistles to the Magnesians and Philadelphians
(Magn. 8, 9, 11 ; Philad. inscr., 3 (end), 4, 5) Lightfoot
assumes that the two errors co-existed in some form of
Docetic Judaism, which Ignatius attacks from different
sides in the different epistles. This is also the view of
Lipsius and Zahn, but it has been challenged by Hort
{Judaistic Christianity^ pp. 181- 187) and Harnack {Ex-
positor^ March 1886, and C/irono/ogie, pp. 389 «., 393).
An intermediate view is held by Von der Goltz, 7'exte
u. Unters.^ Bd, xii. 3.

There are no references to Judaism in the epistles to

no

ADDITIONAL NOTES iii

the Ephesians, Trallians, and Smyrnaeans (unless we re-
gard as such the references to the prophets and the law
of Moses in Smyrn. 5, 7). There the error is simply
Docetic. The reference in Magn. 8 to 'strange doc-
trines * and * ancient fables ' probably refers to Rabbinical
fables rather than to Gnostic myths (see notes on the
passage). In Magn. 9 and Philad. inscr. there are appar-
ently references to Docetism. In the former of the two
passages, after speaking of * our life ' as having * its rising
through Him and His death,' Ignatius adds a parenthe-
tical clause beginning, * which fact some deny.' The
parenthesis, however, forms no part of his argument. In
the second passage Ignatius speaks of the Philadelphian
Church as * rejoicing in the passion of our Lord and in
His resurrection,' where his language may contain, as
Lightfoot thinks, an allusion to the Docetic denial of the
Passion. But in any case neither passage contains more
than an incidental reference to errors which were promi-
nent in the writer's thoughts at the tftne. In Magn. 11,
after the conclusion of the attack on the Judaistic teachers
contained in cc. 8-10, Ignatius bids them *be fully con-
vinced of the birth and passion and resurrection, which
came to pass in the time of the government of Pontius
Pilate — events which truly and certainly were brought to
pass by Jesus Christ' But the words do not necessarily
form a part of the attack contained in cc. 8-10. Ignatius
may be merely thinking of the dangers to which other
churches .were exposed, and warning the Magnesians
beforehand against them. But the most valuable piece
of evidence is the epistle to the Philadelphians. Ignatius
had visited this Church, and in addressing it he plainly
refers to actually existing errors, of which he had personal
experience. Here, if anywhere, we might expect to find
traces of a mixture of Judaism and Docetism. Yet
besides the passage which we have already quoted the
only passages appealed to by Lightfoot are cc. 3
(end), 4, 5.

In the first of these Ignatius says, * If any man walks
in strange opinions, he has no part in the Passion.' In
the second he bids them partake of one Eucharist, as

112 ADDITIONAL NOTES

there is one flesh of Christ. Both these passages may
quite easily refer to the separatist tendencies of heresy
generally, as cutting men off from the unity of the
Church and the benefits^ of the Passion of Christ. In
c. 5 Ignatius speaks of himself as * taking refuge in the
Gospel as the flesh of Jesus.' Here again the allusion
is too slight to convey any distinct controversial sense.
Had Ignatius been confronted with a form of heresy
which combined Judaic and Docetic features, it is
difficult to believe that his language would have been
so vague and indirect.

Thus the language of the epistles does not require us
to suppose that a form of Docetic Judaism was generally
current in the churches. Both Docetic and Judaistic
influences were undoubtedly present to the mind of
Ignatius when he wrote his epistles. But whether in
any particular church the one or the other, or both in
combination, wer^ fouud, depends upon the internal
evidence of each epistle. From what we know of the
foreign influences which had invaded the Jews of the
Dispersion in the first and second centuries, it is not
a priori unlikely that such a combination might exist,
but it would require much stronger language than that
of the passages Magn. 9, n ; Philad. 3, 8 ; Smyrn. 5, 7, to
demonstrate its presence in the three churches addressed
in those epistles. It is only natural to suppose that the
memory of the dangers arising from both forms of error
would colour the thought and language of Ignatius at
the time, even when he was writing to churches not
directly in danger. The remaining epistles show no
trace of a combination of the two errors.

The Docetic heresy arose out of the oriental mystical
spirit, which found a difficulty in believing in the con-
tact of the Supreme God with matter. There are traces
of a similar heresy in the false teaching alluded to in
I John iv. 3, 2 John 7, and in Polycarp's epistle to
the Philippians (c. 7). The Johannine epistles, how-
ever, probably have in view the teaching of Cerin-
thus, which was not properly Docetic. The Docetism
attacked in the present epistles was * thorough-going.

ADDITIONAL NOTES 113

It was applied to the whole earthly life of our Lord
from the Birth to the Resurrection.

This is a sign of early date, as Docetism tended to
become modified as time went on. This * thorough-
going' Docetism finds a parallel in the teaching of
Saturnilus, who was a contemporary and fellow-citizen
of Ignatius. I'he epistles contain no traces of the
features of the later Gnostic systems of Valentinus,
Basilides, and Marcion.

The Jewish or Ebionite heresy was a development of
the Pharisaic Judaism, of which we see the beginnings
in the teaching attacked by St. Paul in the Epistle to
the Galatians. It appears, however, that circumcision
was no longer insisted on, for in Philad. 6 we read,
* It is better to hear Christianity from one who is cir-
cumcised, than to hear Judaism from an uncircumcised
man.' This is in accordance with what we know of the
later development of this heresy.

Both forms of heresy were dishonouring to the Person
of Christ. Docetism denied the reality of His Manhood.
Ebionism started from an imperfect conception of His
Person, and ended by denying His Divinity. Both alike
found a stumbling-block in the Passion, with its teach-
ing of a Divine sufferer and a crucified Messiah. Both
heresies in their developed form (see above) resulted in
separatism, and gave occasion to an emphatic assertion
by Ignatius of the unity of the Church.

(II) THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

The statement in the Introduction, § iv. pp. 32 f., that
in the New Testament and the early sub-apostolic writers
the words * bishop ' and * presbyter ' are applied to the
same person represents a fact which did not escape the
notice of Church writers in ancient times. One attempt
to explain the transfer of the name * bishop' to the
single monarchical ruler of the Ignatian epistles and

H

114 ADDITIONAL NOTES

later times is that of Theodore of Mopsuestia in the
fifth century. According to this writer the Church
officers who are now called bishops were formerly
called apostles, and ruled not single churches, but
whole provinces. He represents St. Paul as appointing
Timothy to rule the province of Asia and Titus to rule
over Crete. But when the original Apostles passed
away, their successors, recognizing that they fell far
short of them in the character of their gifts and in
other ways, shrank from retaining the name * apostle,'
and chose instead the name of * bishop,' reserving the
word * presbyter ' to the inferior office which now bears
that name. As bishops were multii^lied, not only were
they appointed to particular towns and provinces, but
each locality came to have its own bishop.^ This theory
is criticized by Bishop Lightfoot {Phiiippians, p. 195 f.)
The Apostles, whether we use the term of the Twelve
and St. Paul, or in the wider sense of the original
founders of Churches, held no localized office. They
were missionaries and moved about from place to place.
Moreover the statement of Theodore that episcopacy
spread from the provincial area to the smaller localities
is not borne out by facts. The epistles of Ignatius
prove the contrary, and show that the bishop's office
was not in any sense * diocesan.' The germ of truth
contained in Theodore's statement is the fact that the
missionary Apostles of the first days exercised a general
supervision over the churches Which they founded, and
that the supreme power of this general and itinerant
ministry came eventually into the hands of the single
* bishop ' who belonged to the local ministry .^

In modern times discussion has largely turned on the
relationship between this general ministry of the first
Apostles and the local ministry of presbyters (or pres-
byter-bishops) and deacons which preceded the threefold
ministry as we see it in Ignatius.

Bishop Lightfoot in his essay on *The Christian
Ministry' {Phiiippians, pp. 181 f.) starts with the repre-

* Theodore Mops., Comm. in i Tim. iii. 8.

* Cf. Turner, Camb. Mediarval History, 1. 145.

ADDITIONAL NOTES 115

sentation in Acts of the Twelve as the * sole directors and
administrators of the Church/ Owing to the increasing
burden of work, the less important functions were soon
delegated to others. First came the appointment of the
Seven (Acts vi.) in whose office he sees a correspondence
with the later diaconate, though the name * deacon ' is
not used^). The. next stage, the appearance of the office
of presbyters, first comes to light (Acts xi. 30) in close
connection with the persecution of Herod, which appears
to have led to the dispersion of the Twelve. Hence-
forth we read of presbyters as directing the affairs of
the Church at Jerusalem. The office may have been
created on the analogy of the * elders' of the Jewish
synagogue. But, once created, it extended to other
regions, and Paul and Barnabas are represented on
their first missionary journey as establishing presbyters
in the churches which they founded (Acts xiv. 23).
The term * bishop' first appears in connection with
Gentile Churches, and then as a synonym for * presbyter.'
Whether it was adopted from the analogy of the similar
title applied to the directors of Greek religious and
social clubs (as Dr. Hatch supposed) cannot be deter-
mined. But the name is applied in one passage (Acts
XX. 28) to those who have previously been spoken of as
'presbyters' (the 'elders' of Ephesus, see v, 17), while
elsewhere (Phil. i. i) 'bishops' are spoken of, along
with 'deacons,' in a way that suggests that presbyters
are referred to. Similarly in the Pastoral Epistles Light-
foot urges that the same identification is to be made
(see Tit. i. 5, 7 ; i Tim. iii. 1-7). Presbyters appear in
I Pet. V. 5 and also in James v. 14. The same termi-
nology appears when we pass outside the New Testa-
ment to the sub-apostolic period. In Clement of Rome
and the Didache we read of 'bishops and deacons'
(Clement, ad Cor. 42, Didache 15) — though the former
uses ' bishop ' and ' presbyter ' as convertible terms
(cp. ad Cor, 44) — and in Polycarp [ad Philipp, 5, 6)
'presbyters and deacons.' On the strength of this

^ The words SiaKovciv and 8xaKov(a (* serve,' 'ministration') are,
however, used in this connection. See Acts vi. i, 2.

ii6 ADDITIONAL NOTES

evidence Lightfoot holds that the local churches were
under the direction of presbyter-bishops, whose function
was to rule and teach, and that the monarchical epis-
copate was developed out of this subordinate office.
In tlje position of St. James at Jerusalem (see esp.
Acts xxi. i8, cf. Introd. p. 33) he sees the pattern
and precedent of this later development; and in the
activity of St. John at Ephesus, according to the tradi-
tion preserved by Clement of Alexandria and Tertullinn
(see note on Trail. 7), he would see one of the main
agencies in extending an organization which had been
adopted in the mother church of Jerusalem.

The discovery of the Didache (or Teaching of the
Twelve Apostks), published by Bryennios in 1883,
subsequent to the appearance of Lightfoot's essay, led
to a fresh review of the history of the ministry. In this
work, side by side with the local ministry of * bishops
and deacons,* we find itinerant apostles, prophets, and
teachers, who visit the churches. The apostle is to be
received as the Lord, but may not stay more than three
days. Provision is made for prophets and teachers who
wish to settle down in the community. The prophet
when speaking in the spirit is to be above criticism.
He is allowed to use extempore prayer when * giving
thanks,' and first-fruits are to be assigned to him, for,
says the writer, *they (the prophets) are your high-
priests ' At the same time bishops and deacons, whom
they are bidden to elect for themselves, are not to be
despised, but are to be held in honour along with the
prophets and teachers, whose ministry they also exercise.
In this itinerant ministry of apostles, prophets, and
teachers Harnack ^ sees a survival of an earlier teaching
ministry, which owed its position, not to appointment
by the Church, but to a special gift of inspiration, which
enabled its possessors to * speak the word of God,' and
he contrasts this earlier * charismatic ' ^ ministry, to

^ See Prolegomena to edition of />/V/ar//<~ in Texte u. Untersuch-
unij^en (1884), and Constitution and Law of the Church in the first
two centuries (E. tr. 19 10).

^ This use of the term * charismatic ' is criticized by Dean

ADDITIONAL NOTES 117

which he attributes the most important influence in the
direction of the early church, with the purely adminis-
trative local ministry of presbyters (or bishops) and
deacons, who derived their appointment from the com-
munity. As the older charismatic ministry declined or
fell into disrepute (the Z^z^^/^i^^ contains warnings against
* false i^rophets '), the local ministry stepped into its place
and exercised many of its functions. This theory has
recently been discussed by the Dean of Wells (Dr.
Armitage Robinson) in the volume of essays on The
Early History of the Church and Ministry (pp. 59 ff.).
He criticizes Harnack for reading back into the New
Testament the conditions implied in the Didache, and
for the use which he makes in support of his theory of
such passages as i Cor. xii. 28, Eph. iv. 11 (which
refer to functions rather than offices), and he denies that
prophets and teachers in the New Testament stand out
(along with apostles) as a definite official class, superior
to the local presbyters, and exercising a ministry to the
universal church. The conditions in the Didache, on
the contrary, point to a stage at which the gift of
prophecy, which in the Acts and Epistles is represented
as a personal endowment, has become the badge of a
professional class, with the attendant dangers of self-
exaltation and deception. With Lightfoot it is reason
able to see in the * helps ' and * governments ' of i Cor.
xii. 28, and the * pastors and teachers' of Eph. iv. 11,
an allusion to the permanent ministry of the Church,
even thougii this is overshadowed by the more con-
spicuous gifts which were needed for the conversion
of unbelievers and the founding of churches. These
hunibler offices had, too, their own charisma, or gift of
the Holy Spirit, as we see from Acts xx. 28 and the
language of the Pastoral Epistles (i Tim. iv. 14 ;
2 Tim. i. 6).

Later discussions have somewhat modified Lightfool's
statement that the terms * presbyter ' and * bishop ' wTre

Robinson, Essays on Early History of Church and Ministry ^ edilCvl
by Dr. Swete (191 8).

ii8 ADDITIONAL NOI'ES

synonymous. l)r. Hort {Christian Ecclesia^ pp. 190 ff.)
maintained that the word * bishop' was not a mere
synonym, but denoted a function exercised by the
presbyter — the function of * oversight.' More recent
scholars ^ have maintained a distinction between the
presbyter and the * bishop.' According to this view the
word * elders' (* presbyters ') is used in our early sources
in a more general and in a more particular sense. On
the one hand, there is a wider class of * elders ' who are
contrasted with the younger members of the community
( 1 Tim. V. I ; I Pet. v. 5 ; cf. Tit. ii. 2-6). On the other
hand, there are * elders' who rule (i Tim. v. 17), and
who are probably to be identified with the 'rulers' of
Rom. xii. 28, i Thess. v. 12, Heb. xiii. 7. These latter
have an official status ; and they are appointed (cf. Acts
xiv. 23, Tit. i. 5, Clement of Rome, ad Cor, 54). In
the Church of Jerusalem they appear to have acted as
an advisory and ruling council (Acts xi. 30, xv. 4, xxi. 18).
Some of them at least exercised pastoral duties (i Pet.
V. 2) and were occupied in the ministry of the word and
teaching (i Tim. v. 17 ; Heb. xiii. 7). These facts
explain their position in the Ignatian epistles, where
they appear as a * council ' associated with the bishop.

According to this view * bishops ' would be selected
from, and appointed by, the official presbyters to execute
certain functions. The evidence of our sources suggests
that these functions were threefold: (i) the representa-
tion of the local church in its external relations with other
churches. Of this we have an illustration in the position
occupied by Clement of Rome, who writes to the
Corinthians to protest against the wrongful dismissal of
some presbyters as a violation of church order. Similarly
Her mas ( Vis. ii. 4) is instructed to send one copy of his
book to Clement, who is to * send it to the foreign cities,
for this is his duty.'

(2) Closely connected with the previous function is the
administration of the finances of the Church. This
would be necessary in view of the duty of providing

' See, e.g.^ Bernard, Pastoral Epp. pp. Ivi fF. ; Ilarnack, Consti-
tution and Law of the Church, pp. 67 f., 69 f.

ADDITIONAL NOTES 119

hospitality for those who came from other churches, and
of supervising the charities of the Church. Hence we
find the injunction that the bishop be * given to hospi-
tality' (i Tim. iii. 2; Tit. i. 8), while in Justin {Ap. i.
67) the money collected for orphans and widows is to
be deposited with * the president.'

(3) Lastly, there is the connection of the bishop with
the worship of the Church, centring in the celebra-
tion of the Eucharist. Thus in the DidacJie (c. 15) the
election of * bishops and deacons ' is referred to in con-
nexion with the Eucharist, and in Clement of Rome
(c. 44) the * offering of the gifts ' (/. e. in the Eucharist)
is spoken of as a function of the bishop's office (cf.
Ignatius, Smyrn. 8).

In the matters of finance and worship we find the
deacons closely associated with the * bishop,' and similar
qualifications are required of them both (cf. i Tim. iii.
3, 8 ; Didache 15). Deacons are closely associated with
the * president ' in Justin's account of the Eucharist
{Ap, i. 65, 67). The position of the Seven in Acts vi.
1-6 is an early indication of a similar function with
regard to finance.

According to this view, while all bishops would be
presbyters, all presbyters would not necessarily be
bishops, as the latter, though chosen from the former,
had functions of their own, though we cannot always
sharply distinguish between the duties fulfilled by each.
Teaching and the ministry of the word are asigned to
both presbyters and bishops (i Tim. v. 17 ; i Tim. iii. 2) ;
in the Didache (c. 15) bishops and deacons are said to
* minister the ministry of prophets and teachers ' ; and
Hermas i^Vis. iii. 5) similarly connects bishops and
deacons with apostles and teachers.

The distinction between bishops and presbyters which
has been drawn above does not, however, alter the fact
that there were several * bishops ' in each local church.
The stages by which the single bishop came to be
supreme in the local church are hidden from us. The
development was not uniform in all churches. When
the Apostles, who had exercised a general supervision

I20 ADDITIONAL NOTES

over the churches founded by them passed away, the
colleges of ruling presbyters established by them in the
various churches would feel the need of a president,
who could act as an executive official, as the presiding
minister at the Eucharist, and as the representative of
the church in its external relations.

Ignatius nowhere speaks of the bishops as * succeeding
to ' the Apostles. The idea, however, of a * succession '
in the ministry and the belief that the Apostles had
provided for it are found in Clement of Rome {ad Cor.
44).^ Ignatius, on the other hand, emphasizes the
importance of the bishop as the centre of unity in the
local church (Smyrn. 8), while the unity of the church
universal finds its organ of expression in *the bishops
established in the furthest quarters,' who are *in the
mind of Jesus Christ,' as Jesus Christ is *the Mind of
the Father ' (Eph. 3).

Thus the local ministry, established in the first
instance by the missionary apostles of early days, though
obscured for a time by the more striking and exceptional
endowments of missionary prophets and teachers, when
these had passed away, gathered into itself the perma-
nent powers of the apostolate, and in the episcopate
provided the Church with an organ for the expression
of the unity of the whole.

(Ill) THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM

OF ST. IGNATIUS.

The story of the martyrdom of Ignatius is current in
five diffierent forms.

1 . The Antiochene Acts, current in Greek, Latin, and
Syriac.

2. The Roman Acts, current in Greek and Coptic.

3. The Bollandist Acts (Latin),

4. The Armenian Acts.

5 The Acts of Symeon the Metaphrast (Greek).

^ On the history of the idea of ' apostolic succession ' see the
essay by C. H. Turner in Essnys on the Early History of the Church
and Ministry (edited by Dr. Swete), pp. 95 ff.

ADDITIONAL NOTES 121

Of these the last three forms show their dependence
upon (i)and (2), the narratives of which they combine
in various ways. On the other hand the Antiochene
and Roman Acts are plainly independent. Hence our
attention may be confined to them.

The Roma ft Acts are the longer of the two forms, and
exhibit a more developed legendary character than we
find in the Antiochene Acts. According to the account
which they contain, the trial before Trajan took place at
Rome in the presence of the Senate. A long dialogue
ensues between Trajan and Ignatius, in which the
Senate occasionally intervenes. Trajan at first makes
overtures to his prisoner and promises to appoint him
high-priest of Zeus and give him a share in his kingdom,
if he will abjure Christianity and sacrifice to the gods.
As this proves unavailing, he threatens him with various
forms of torture. On his part Ignatius heaps ridicule on
the heathen gods and vindicates Christianity. After
torture has proved unavailing, Trajan orders him to be
left in prison without food for three days and then to be
cast to the wild beasts. On the third day Trajan,
attended by the Senate and the prefect, proceeds to the
amphitheatre, where a great concourse is assembled.
The endurance of the martyr excites the Emperor's
wonder, and as he is still obdurate, the final sentence is
carried out, and the wild beasts are let loose upon him
The beasts, however, only crushed him to death, with-
out touching his flesh, * so that his reliques might be a
means of protection to the great city of the Romans, in
which Peter also was crucified and Paul was beheaded
and Onesimus was perfected ' (c. 10).

Trajan is amazed at the circumstances of the martyr's
death, and receiving about the same time letters from
Pliny the governor with reference to the Christians, he
issues a decree ordering that the Christians should not
be sought out, but only punished when found. At the
same time he permits the burial of the martyr's reliques.
* Then,' we read, * the brethren in Rome, to whom also
he had sent word that they should not sue for his
deliverance from martyrdom and so rob him of the hope

122 ADDITIONAL NOTES

which he cherished, took his body and laid it where it
was possible for them to gather together and praise God
and His Christ for the perfecting of the holy bishop
and martyr Ignatius. For " the memory of the righte-
ous is highly praised." * ^

The Acts conclude with a quotation of the references
made to Ignatius and Irenaeus and Polycarp.

The work is plainly a romance and cannot be shown
even to be based on earlier documents.

*The exaggerated tortures inflicted on the saint, the
length and character of the discourses attributed to him,
and the strange overtures made to him by the Emperor,
all alike are fatal to the credit of the narrative.' ^

The date of these Acts can only be inferred within
rough limits. I'he writer shows traces of acquaintance
with, and dependence on, the Ecclesiastical History of
Eusebius. He appears also to have known the interpo-
lated version of the Ignatian Epistles, which, as we have
seen, probably belongs to the latter half of the fourth
century.

The story of Ignatius, as contained in these Acts, is
made use of by Latin martyrologists of the ninth century,
not however in its original form, but in combination
with the narrative of the Antiochene Acts. Hence
Lightfoot thinks they may have been written at some
period during the fifth or sixth centuries.

As to the place of writing, the fact that Greek appears
to be the original language of the work shows that they
do not come from the Roman Church, where Greek had
ceased to be spoken long before this time. Lightfoot
adduces several indications in favour of Alexandria in
Egypt as their birthplace. The mention of the month
Panemus (which belongs to the Alexandrian reckoning),
the attack made by Ignatius on animal worship, and lastly
the fact that these Acts alone were translated into Coptic,
favours Lightfoot's conclusion. The relations of Alex-
andria and Rome, and the prominence of Rome in the
narrative, may account for the circulation of these Acts
in the West.

I

c. ij, ^ Lightfoot, vol, ii. p. 377.

ADDITIONAL NOTES 123

The Antiochene Acts stand on a somewhat higher level.
Their genuineness has been maintained by Ussher and
Pearson as well as by many modern writers. In these
Acts the centre of interest is mainly Antioch, where
the trial takes place, and where the reliques are finally
deposited.

After describing the government of the Church at
Antioch by Ignatius, * the disciple of the Apostle John,
a man in every way of apostolic life,' the narrative pro-
ceeds to describe the visit of Trajan to Antioch, in the
ninth year of his reign, after his victory over the Scythians
and Dacians, and his resolve to complete his conquests
by subduing the Christians. Ignatius is brought before
him, and the following dialogue takes place. * Who art
thou, possessed of a devil, that art so ready to disobey
our commands, and to persuade others also to come to a
miserable death ? ' Ignatius said, * No man calleth him
that carries God within him devil-possessed, for the devils
keej) far from the servants of God. But if, because I am
burdensome to these, thou callest me a wretch toward
devils, I agree. For because I have Christ, a heavenly
king, I overthrow their plots.' Trajan said, *And who
is he that beareth God ? ' Ignatius answered, * He that
hath Christ in his breast.' Trajan said, * Dost thou then
think that we have not gods in our hearts, forasmuch as
we use them as allies against our enemies?' Ignatius
said, * Thou art in error in calling the devils of the nations
gods. For there is one God, Who made heaven and
earth and sea and all that is in them, and there is one
Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, Whose friendship
may I enjoy.' Trajan said, * Meanest thou him that was
crucified under Pontius Pilate ? ' Ignatius said, * I mean
llim that hath crucified sin and the deviser thereof, and
hath condemned all wickedness of devils to be trampled
under foot of them that bear Him in their hearts.'
Trajan said, * Dost thou then bear Christ within thyself?'
Ignatius said, * Yea, for it is written, I will dwell in them
and walk in them.' Trajan thereupon sentences him to
be taken to Rome and to be thrown to the wild beasts in
the amphitheatre.

124 ADDITIONAL NOTES

The route is next described. Ignatius sails from Seleu-
cia to Smyrna, where he visits Polycarp, the bishop, his
fellow-student and disciple under John. The Churches
of Asia send their bishops, presbyters, and deacons to
welcome him, and men flock to him to receive a blessing
from him. Then follows the letter to the Romans and
the account of his fears lest he should be respited. From
Smyrna he sails to Troas and Neapolis, thence through
Philippi across Macedonia and Epirus to Epidamnus,
where he takes ship to Portus. He had desired, we are
told, to land at Puteoli, that he might tread in the foot-
steps of St. Paul, but unfavourable winds prevent this.
Having set out from Portus, he is met by the brethren,
whom he addresses at length, and after having prayed to
the Son of God for the peace and love of the churches,
he is conducted into the ami)hitheatre. It was the great

* thirteenth day,' and the sports were drawing to a close.
Only the tougher parts of his reliques were left, and so
his prayer was fulfilled, that he might not be burdensome
to any of the brethren (Rom. 4). The bones were carried
back to Antioch and laid in a sarcophagus as *a priceless
treasure to the holy Church.' On the night of his martyr-
dom he appears to several of his companions. To some
he appears standing over them and embracing them,
others see him praying over them, others again see him

* dripping with sweat, as one that had come out of great
toil and standing by the Lord with great boldness and
unspeakable glory.'

Like the Roman Acts, this narrative betrays its spurious
character. In the first place the journey by sea from
Seleucia is inconsistent with the genuine letters, which
plainly indicate an overland route, as was seen by
Eusebius {H. E. iii. 36) and the compiler of the Roman
Acts (c. i). The visit of Trajan to Antioch * in the ninth
year of his reign ' is unknown to history, while the expe-
dition to Parthia, for which he is said in the Acts to have
been preparing, did not take place till several years later.
The account of the reliques reads like the language of
one writing in a later age. Moreover the Acts are not
quoted before the end of the sixlh century. As we have

ADDITIONAL NOTES 125

seen, Eusebius contradicts their account of the journey,
nor does he mention the interview with Trajan. Chry-
sostom in his oration on Ignatius nowhere alludes to the
story of the Acts. The earliest historian who shows any
acquaintance with them is Evagrius, who wrote at the
close of the sixth century.

There are, however, a few incidents in the latter part
of the journey which, it lias been thought, may be based
upon some true traditions. Ignatius's desire to land at
Puteoli, in order to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul,
and the disappointment of his wish, are thought by
Lightfoot to exhibit an *air of truthfulness, or at least
of verisimilitude.'

So, too, the appearances of Ignatius to his friends on the
night of the martyrdom offer, it is urged, parallels to
incidents in other genuine narratives. But against the
view that a contemporary letter of the saint's companions
has been incorporated into the narrative, Lightfoot him-
self urges the objection that it is improbable that such a
document should not have come to light before the fifth
or sixth century.

We are thus thrown back upon the letters themselves
for the information which we seek about their author, and
the traditions of later ages in this case add nothing that
is reliable to our knowledge.

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES
REt-ERRED TO IN THE NOTES

Leviticus ii. 13

. Magn. 10.

psalms i. 3 .

. Magn. 13.

xxxiii. 9 ..... .

. Eph. 15.

Iv. 14

. Eph. 21.

Proverbs iii. 34

. i':ph. 5.

xviii. 17

. Magn. 12.

Isaiah v. 26 (cf. xlix. 22, Ixii. 10)

Sm. I.

Hi. 5 ...... .

. Tr. 8.

liii. 4

Polyc. I.

Ixvi. 18

Magn. 10.

St. Matt. ii. I sq

Eph. 19.

iii. 12 .

. Ei.h. 16.

iii. 15

. Sm. I.

V. 13 (cf. St. Mark ix. 50, St. Lul<e xiv. 34)

Magn. 10.

V. 45 f

. Polyc. I.

vii. 15 (cf. St. John x. 12, Acts xx. 29)

. Phld. 2.

vii. 24, 25 ..... .

. Polyc. I.

viii. 17 ......

. Poiyc. I.

X. 16 .

. Polyc 2.

X. 40 .

. Eph. 6.

xii. 33 (cf. St. Luke vi. 44) .

. Eph. 14.

xiii. 33 (cf. St. Luke xiii. 21)

. Magn. 10.

XV. 13

. Tr. II, Phld. 3

xviii. 18-20

. Epii. 5.

xix. 12 ......

. Sm. 6.

xix. 19 ......

Polyc. 5.

XX. 28 (cf. St. Mark x. 45) .

Magn. 6, Tr. 3.

xxi. 33

. Eph. 6.

xxiii. 27 . .....

. Phld. 6.

xxvi. 6 (cf. St. Mark xiv. 3 sq., St. John xii

2 sq.)

. Eph. 17.

xxvii. 52 sq. . . . . .

. Magn. 9.

St. Mark iii. 27

. Rom. 7.

viii. 38 (cf. St. Luke ix. 26) . . .

Sm. 10.

St. Luke vi. 32 (cf. i St. Peter ii. 18)

Polyc. 2.

viii. 14

Rom. 7.

xxiii. 7-12 (cf. Acts iv. 27) .

Sm. I.

xxiv. 30, 36-42 (cf. St. John xxi. 13) .

Sm. 3.

St. John i. 16 (cf. Rom. xv. 29, Eph. i. 23)

Eph. inscr.

1* ^S •••••••«

Rom. 2.

ii. 8 (cf. viii. 14, ix. 29, xii. 35, I St. Johr

i

ii. 11) . . . . .

Phld. 7.

126

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES 127

iv. 10, II, 14 Rom. 7.

iv. 34 (cf. vi. 29, xvii. 4) . . . • Eph. U, ^^m. 3.

vi -i-j .,...• Rom. 7*

vL 53/54 *. * ?/^-^°-

viii. 28 . Magn- 7-

viii. 29 Magn. 8.

X.9 ™^-9.

X. 18 • Sm. 2.

xii. 2sq. (cf* St. Mark xiv. 3 sq., St. Matt.

xxvi. 6sq.) Eph. 17.

xii. 31 (cf. xiv. 30, xvi. II) . . . Eph.i7,i9,Magp..

I, Tr. 4, Rom.
7, Phia. 6

XV. I (cf. I Cor. iii. 9)

xvii. 21—23 .
Acts i. 25

vi. 2 .

ix. 41 .

XV. 38 .

xix. 24
Rom. i. 2 (cf. iii. 21)

vi. 4» 5

1 Cor. i. 20
i. 23, 24
ii. 7 sq.
ii. 14 sq.
iii. I, 2
iii. 16, 17 (cf. vi. 19, and 2

xxi. 3)
iv. 4 .
iv. 13 .
v. 7 .
vi. 7 .
vi. 9 .
vi. 20 .
vii. 22 .
ix. 27 .
X. 16 (cf. Acts ii. 46, XX. 7)
XV. 8 .
XV. 32 .

2 Cor. xi. 9 (cf. xii. 16, i
xi. 23 .
xiii. 5 .
xiii. 13

Gal. i. I .

i. 13 (cf. ii. 14)
ii. 20 (cf. iii. 27)
ii. 21 (cf V. 4)
V. 21 .
vi. 2 .

Cor. vi. 16

Thess. ii.

6)

Rev

PhM. 3.
Tr. II.
Magn 5.
Tr. 2.
Sm. 6.
Eph. 14.
Eph. 9.
Magn. 8.
Magn. 5.
Eph. 18.
Eph. 18.
Eph. 19.
Eph. 8.
Tr. 5.

Eph. 15, 16.
Rom. 5.
Eph. 8.
Magn. 10
Eph. 10.

Eph. 16, Phld. 3.
Eph. inscr.
Rom. 4.
Tr. 12.
Eph. 20.
Rom. 9.

Tr. 10, Rom. 5.
Phld. 6.
Magn. 6.
Magn. 12.
Magn. 13.
Phld. I.
Magn. 8.
Magn. 5.
Magn. 8.
Eph. 16.
Polyc. I.

128 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES

XV. 45

Tit.

Eph. i. I f.

i. 6

i. lo .

i. 21 {cf. Col. i. i6, ii.

ii. 20 sq.

iv. 24 (cf. I Cor.

V. 25 .

vi. 13 sq.
Phil. ii. 10

ii. 16 (cf. Col. i. 29, I 1

ii. 20 .

ii. 30 .

iv. 12 .

iv. 13 .
Col. i. 18

i. 23 .

ii. 16 .
I Thess. ii. 4

V. 17 .

1 Tim. i. 4 (cf. iv. 7
iii. 10 .
iv. 6 .
vi. 2 .

2 Tim. i. 16
ii. 4
ii. 12 .
ii. 26 .

Heb. i. 2

i- 3 •
viii. 13

ix. 7-12 (cf. X. 19

xiii. 10
St. James ii. 2
I St. Peter i. 10, 1 1

ii. 25 (cf. V. 2, 4)

in. 19, 20 .

iv. 10 .
I St. John ii. 18

111. 16 .
Rev. iii. 12

xxii. I, 2

sq.)

8)
,47)

im.

IV. 10

1. 14

iii. 9)

Eph. inscr.

Smyrn. inscr.

Eph. 18.

Tr. 5.

Eph. 9.

Eph. 20.

Polyc. 5.

Polyc. 6.

Tr. 9.

Polyc. 6.

Eph. 21.

Eph. 14.

Eph. 12.

Sm. 4*

Sm. I.

Eph. 10.

Magn. 9.

Rom. 2.

Eph. 10.

Magn. 8.

Tr. 2.

Magn. 6.

Polyc. 4.

Eph. 2.

Polyc. 6.

Sm. 4.

Sm. 9.

Magn. 6.

Magn. 5.

Magn. 10.

Magn. 7, PhUl. 9.

Magn. 7.

Polyc. 4.

Magn. 8, 9.

Magn. 3, Rom. 9,

Polyc. inscr.
Magn. 9.
Polyc. 6.
Eph. II.
Eph. 21.
Phld. 6.
Tr. II.

GENERAL INDEX

[See also Table of Contents, p. vii.]

Acts of martyrdom, of St. Igna-
tius, 21, 24, 74 f., I20f.

Antiochene, 38, 70, 74,

120, 123 f.

Armenian, 120 f.

BoUandist, 120 f.

Roman, 74 f., i2of.

of Simeon the Metaphrast,

120 f.
Agape, 18, 79, 97 f.
d^air^, 97 f.
ayio<l>6poSf 90
ayyeia, 1 05
Alee, lOl, 109
Altar, use of word in Ignatius,

42, 57, 66, 83 f.
Anachronisms, supposed, 19, 76,

97
Andrew, St., residence in Asia,

46

Andrewes, Bishop, 11

Angelology, 65

Anointing at Bethany, 48

avrl^vxoy, $2

Apocryphal sayings of our Lord,

93»94
Apostolic Constitutions, 15, 23,

56, lOS
Armenian version, 10, 17, 54, 56,

62, 72, 77, 91, 93» 95
Artemis, temple of, 44
Athanasius, 37, 52
Athletes, training of, 40 f., 106,

107
Authority, types of,- in Ignatius,

I9»56

Baptism, Ignatius on, 4;, 97,

107
Barnabas, Epistle of, 59
fia<TKaiyciyy 73
&40atoSf 96

Bernard, J. H., Archbishop, 118
Bernard, St., 9
Bigg, Dr. C, 78
liishop, in Ignatian Epistles, 18,

19, 32 f., Ii3f.
extent of administration of,

34,73,97,114
Bunsen, 68, 104

Burrhus, 40, 89, 100

Caius MS., 12

Catholic Church, 19, 90, 97.

See also Unily of Chuich.
Celibacy in early Church, 105 f,
Chrysostom, St., 24, 125
Clement of Alexandria, 16, 46,

50, 66, 75,92, 116
Clement of Rome, 55, 73, 75,

83, 84, 88, 115, 118, 119,

120
Clement, Second Epistle of, 43
Colbertine MS., 70
Coliseum, the, 21
Compedagogita^ 40
Constantine, 92
Controversy on the Ignatius,

Epistles, 9 flf.
Coptic version, 10, 91, 93, 95
Creed-like passages in Ignatius,

17, 28
Crome. Walter, 12

I

129

I30

GENERAL INDEX

Cross in Ignatian Epistles, 25,

30 f., 92

as tree of life, 67, 91

Curelon, I3f.

Curetonian Syriac version, I3f.,

50, 104
Cyril of Jerusalem, 97

Daille on genuineness of the

Epistles, 13
Date of Ignntian Epistles, 20
Deacons, duties of, 63 f. See

also Ministry.
Descent of Christ into Ilades,

28, 59
Didymus, 94
Diocesan episcopacy, 34, 73, 97,

114
Dionysius the Areopagite, 12
Dionysius of Corinth, 7I> 75
DocetcTj, 28, 30, 36, 38, 43, 53,

59, 60,62, 67, 78, 81,82,87,

90, 96, iiof.
Doctrine of Peter, 93
Doctrine of Twelve Apostles

(Didache), 33, 34, 83, 84, 98,

115, 116 f., 119
Door, Christ as the, 29, 31, 8S

Egnatia, Via, 108
Egyptian Church Order, 98
Kphesians, Epistle of St. Paul

to, 29, 68, 92
Ephesus, 38
its connexion with martyrs,

41, 46

its connexion with apostles.

46

Episcopacy, in Ignatius, i8f.,
32 f. , 54, 65 f. See also
Ministry.

extent of, 41

Episcopus ( * * overseer " ), 33 f. ,

55, "3f.
iiriffKOirii, 109

iTrirpoTToSy 108

4p(as, 78

Eucharist, teaching of Ignatius

on, 36 f., 51, 66, 83, 95 f.

Eucharist, a sacrifice, 84

connexion with Agape,

^ 97 f.
euxapttTT^a {evxo-pi'Sruv)^ 47, 83,

95
Eusebius of Coesarea, 10, 14,

16, 20, 21, 71, 76, 93, 95,

100, 124

Evagrius, 125

Festival of Ignatius, 24
Flavius Clemens, 72
Funk, 15

Gaius of Rome, 75
Generation, the Divine, of the

Son, 26, 43, 58
Gnostics, 58
Gore, Bishop, 18, 35
Gospels, written^ 18, 29, 84 f.,

Gregory of Nyssa, 50
Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln,
12 f.

Hadrian, letter to Servianus, 51

Hall, Bishop, il

Ilarnack, Dr., 15, 17, 20, 27,

81, 84, 85, 116, 117, 118
Hatch, Dr., 115
Hebrews, Gospel according to,

Heresies in Asiatic Churches,

iiof.
Hermas, Shepherd oi, 88, 118,

119
Hero, Epistle to, 10
High-priest, Christ as, 31, 88
Holy Spirit, Ignatius on the,

28
Hooker, 11
Horner, 98
Ilort, Dr., 57, 118

Ignatian Epistles, Long Form,
10 f., 15, 56, 62, 64, 65

Middle Form, 11 f.

Short Form, 13 f.

spurious, 9 f,

GENERAL INDEX

131

I{»natiiis, character and training,

21, 25

martyrdom of, 21 f.

Incarnation, teaching of Ignatius

on, 30 f., 37
Irenocus, 16, 59, 66, 75, 84, 96

James, St., position of, in
Church of Jerusalem, 33, 34

Jerome, 92, 93

John, St., Gospel according to,
29, 31, 48f., 86

relaticms of, with Igna-
tius, 23, 26, 29, 123

residence of, at Ephesus,

38,46

spurious correspondence

of Ignatius with, 9
Judaistic errors, attacked in

Epistles, 36, 53, 57 f., 81,85.

86, iiof.
Justin Martyr, 18, 84, 85, 97,

119

Latin Version, 12 f., 56, 57, 58,
64, 71, 87, 91, 93,95

Leopards, 19, 76

Lightfoot, liishop, 14, 15, 16,
18, 23, 35. 39, 40,41 » 42,43.
44, 45, 48, 50, 51.53.54,57,
58, 63, 65,66, 67, 68,70,71,
72, 76, 78,79, 82, 86, 89,91,
95. 96, 97, 98, 100, 104, 105,
107, io8, no. III, ii4f.

Lipsius, no

Logos (Word), 26, 58, 72

Lord's Day, 58 f.

Lucian, on the Christians, 72,

76

Maclean, Bishop, 98

Magic, in early centuries, 51

Magnesia, 53

Marcellus, 58

Marcion, 17, 59

Mary of Cassobola, 10

Matthew, St., Gospel according

to, 29
Milton, II

Ministry, the Christian, in
Ignatian Epistles, 18,19, 32 f-,

64, Ii3f-
Montague, Bishop, 12

Muratorian Canon, 97

Mysticism of Ignatius, 25, 37,

66

Neapolis, 108

New Testament, quotations of,
in the Epistles, 18, 29 f.

olKovo/jilaj 49

Old Testament, Ignatius' atti-
tude to, 30, 58, 85, 87, 88,

94
Onesimus, Bishop of Ephesus,

39, 42
Ordinances of Apostles, 28
Origen, 16, 21, 50, 78, 93

Papias, 46

Paul, St., relation of Ignatius

to his teaching, 31

and Roman Church, 75

Pearson, Bishop, 9, 13, 47, 54,

90, 123
vepl^/'nfiaf 43
Petavius, 11
Peter, St., preaching and death

at Rome, 75
Philadelphia, 81
Philip, St., residence in Asia,

46

Philip of Side, 46
Phillimore, 71
Pliny, letter to Trajan, 98
Poly carp, 20, 22 f., 66, 90, 102
his Epistle to the Philip-

pians, 15, 21, 23, 33, 55, 66,

80, 115
Polycrates, 46

Presbyters, 35. See also Ministry.
Prophecy, Christian, 33 f,, 86,

ii6f.

Rabbinic fables, 57

Ramsay, Prof., 21, 35, 36, 41,

132

genl:ral index

Keliques of St. Ignntius, 24,

74 f., 121, 124
Robinson, J. A., Dean, 117
Roman Christians, and Ignatius,

22, 70
Roman Church, chaiity of, 71,95

influence of, 72

jurisdiction of, 70 f.

Romans, Epistle of Ignatius to,

13, 22, 36, 70
Route of Ignatius, 22, 39, 86
RuBnus, 59
Ruinart, 13

Sabbath, observance of, 58

Sanday, Dr., 75

Satan, deceived by Incarnation,

Saturnilus, 113

Savings-bank of Roman soldiers,

107
Separatism, warnings against,

37, 96
Severus of Antioch, 58
Ship, a figure of the Church,

104
Shrines, portable, 44, 45
Sirmium, Dated Creid of, 59
Slaves, ransom of, 105
Smectymnuus controversy, 11
Smyrna, 90
Socrate*?, 23
(TwfiaTcloyj 99
Stanton, Dr., 46
Star, at birth of Christ, 50
(TuvaywycUf 1 05
(TvvbibaffKaK^Taif 40
Swefe, Dr., 43, 59, 75. 97
Syriac vtrsion, 17, 56, 64

Tarsia ns. Epistle to, 10
Tattam, Archdeacon, 14
Tertullian, 46, 66, 70, 75, 98,

116
Thecla, Acts of Paul and, 76,

104
Theodore of Mopsuestia, 114
Theodoret, 10, 14, 23
Theodosius, the younger, 24
Theophorus, 20, 23 f., 38

eriptofiax^iy, 7S

dvffiaffTiipioVf 83

Ti adit ions of our Lord's life,

Traian, 24, 121 f., 123 f.

Tralles, 62

Turner, C. II., 114, 120

Unity of Churcli, Ignatius on,

32, 41, 53, 64, 68, 96
Ussher, Archbishop, 9, 11 f.,

123

Valentinus, 17
Vedelius, 11

Venantius Fortunatus, 67
Vincent of Beauvais, 23
Virgin, correspondence of the, 9
Virgin-birth of our Lord, 27, 50
Von der Goltz, 49, 1 10
Vos«, Isaac, 13, 15

Wake, Archbishop, 90, 91
Word. See Logos.
Wordsworth, C, Bishop, 14

Zahn, Dr., 14, 42, 46, 51, 54,

59, 72, 76, 78, 79, 89, 91,
92, 104, 105, 106, 107, no.

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